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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering:

Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and
Performance
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Evaluation of prestress losses in prestressed concrete

specimens subjected to freezethaw cycles
a

bc

Da-fu Cao , Xiao-Chuan Qin , Shao-Ping Meng , Yong-Ming Tu , Lennart Elfgren , Natalia
c

Sabourova , Niklas Grip , Ulf Ohlsson & Thomas Blanksvrd

School of Civil Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, No.198 HuaYang XiLu,
HanJiang District, Yangzhou 225127, P.R. China
b

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School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, No.2 SiPaiLou, XuanWu District, Nanjing
210096, P.R. China
c

Division of Structural Engineering, Lule University of Technology, SE-971 87, Lule,

Sweden
Published online: 13 Feb 2015.

To cite this article: Da-fu Cao, Xiao-Chuan Qin, Shao-Ping Meng, Yong-Ming Tu, Lennart Elfgren, Natalia Sabourova,
Niklas Grip, Ulf Ohlsson & Thomas Blanksvrd (2015): Evaluation of prestress losses in prestressed concrete specimens
subjected to freezethaw cycles, Structure and Infrastructure Engineering: Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and
Performance, DOI: 10.1080/15732479.2014.998241
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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 2015

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2014.998241

Evaluation of prestress losses in prestressed concrete specimens subjected to freeze thaw cycles
Da-fu Caoa1, Xiao-Chuan Qinb*, Shao-Ping Mengb2, Yong-Ming Tub,c3, Lennart Elfgrenc4, Natalia Sabourovac5,
Niklas Gripc6, Ulf Ohlssonc7 and Thomas Blanksvardc8
a

School of Civil Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, No.198 HuaYang XiLu, HanJiang District, Yangzhou 225127,
P.R. China; bSchool of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, No.2 SiPaiLou, XuanWu District, Nanjing 210096, P.R. China; cDivision
of Structural Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, SE-971 87, Lulea, Sweden

Downloaded by [SENESCYT ] at 15:18 26 March 2015

(Received 9 January 2014; final version received 5 September 2014; accepted 4 October 2014)
Prestressed concrete structures are considered to be reliable and durable. However, their long-term performance when
subjected to frost attack is still unclear. In this work, experiments were carried out to evaluate the prestress losses in posttensioned prestressed concrete specimens subjected to freeze thaw cycles (FTCs). Two cases were considered: in one case,
a series of specimens were prepared and tested in a freeze thaw chamber; in the second case, the same series of specimens
were tested in an indoor environment (outside the chamber). The difference between the prestress losses of the specimens
inside the freeze thaw chamber and those outside the chamber equalled the prestress losses due to FTCs. When using
mathematical models to predict the prestress losses due to the FTCs, it was found that they were relatively small when the
concrete was slightly damaged. However, they increased rapidly when the FTCs were repeated. The eccentricity of the
prestress wires led to larger prestress losses when subjected to FTCs. Moreover, the same cross section and eccentricity
resulted in similar prestress losses due to the FTCs, and the relatively high-strength concrete could withstand more FTCs.
Keywords: concrete; post-tensioned; prestress loss; freeze thaw cycles; experiments; mathematical model

D1c n 2 1; n:

Notations list
Es :
Ep :
Ec :
As :
Ap :
Ac :
A:
I:
e:
n:
f n:
Dsl :
DslO :
DslF :
scon :
Pn:
1c n:

Youngs modulus of longitudinal

reinforcement
Youngs modulus of prestressing
reinforcement
Youngs modulus of concrete before
freeze-thaw starts
cross-sectional area of longitudinal
reinforcement
cross-sectional area of prestressing
reinforcement
cross-sectional area of concrete
cross-sectional area of beam
inertia moment of cross-section
eccentricity
number of FTCs
damage function after n FTCs
total prestress loss
prestress loss caused by other factors
prestress loss due to FTCs
tension control stress
pressure applied by prestressing
reinforcement after n FTCs
strain in the concrete at the layer of the
prestressing wire after n FTCs

*Corresponding author. Email: qinxc@seu.edu.cn

q 2015 Taylor & Francis

DslF n:

strain increment from the nth 2 1 cycle

to the nth cycle
prestress loss after n FTCs

1. Introduction
In cold regions, the effect of freeze thaw cycles (FTCs) is
one of the major factors that leads to a deterioration in the
durability of existing reinforced concrete structures
(Fagerlund, 1999; Pigeon & Pleau, 1995). As FTCs are
repeated, concrete material gradually loses its strength and
stiffness with the growth of internal cracks (Cho, 2007;
Ueda, Hasan, Nagai, Sato, & Wang, 2009). For prestressed
concrete structures, the deterioration of concrete material
can cause prestress loss as well as the degradation of loadbearing capacity, which can eventually make the whole
structure incapable of service.
The performance of concrete material under FTCs has
been studied for many years by a number of researchers. For
example, in a series of experiments, Shang et al. investigated
the strength and deformation of plain concrete under uniaxial,
biaxial and triaxial compression after FTCs (Shang & Song,
2006; Shang, Song, & Qin, 2005, 2008; Shang, Yin, Song, &
Qin, 2006). Duan, Jin, and Qian (2011) proposed the stress
strain curves of frozenthawed confined and unconfined
concrete specimens. Hasan, Ueda, and Sato (2008)

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D.-f. Cao et al.

investigated the stressstrain relationship of frost-damaged

concrete subjected to fatigue loading; coupling frost-damage
with load factors. Sun, Zhang, Yan, and Mu (1999) studied
the deterioration of concrete material by applying the static
load and FTCs simultaneously, and Li, Sun, and Jiang (2011)
studied the damage experienced by concrete undergoing a
flexural fatigue load and FTCs simultaneously.
However, less attention has been paid to reinforced
concrete members and prestressed concrete members
(Cao, Qin, & Yuan, 2013; Diao, Sun, Cheng, & Ye, 2011;
Hanjari, Kettil, & Lundgren, 2013). Diao et al. (2011)
investigated the coupling effects of mixed NaCl and
Na2SO4 corrosion, FTCs and persistent bending loads on
the structural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams and
found that a persistent load enhanced the damage in the
reinforced concrete beams. Moreover, a larger persistent
load ratio could result in a more severe degradation of
concrete. Hanjari et al. (2013) predicted the bending
behaviour of frost-damaged reinforced concrete beams by
the finite element method. Their comparison between the
predictions and available experimental data indicated that
the changes in failure mode and, to a rather large extent,
the effect of failure load caused by internal frost damage
were well predicted. Although there are some reports
concerning frost-damaged reinforced concrete beams, the
ways in which structures subjected to FTCs behave are not
well understood. Further investigations are required,
especially on the prestressed concrete structures in bridges
and other infrastructural constructions. In our previous
study (Cao et al., 2013), our group reported on the flexural
behaviours of prestressed concrete beams subjected to
FTCs. The cracking moment and ultimate bending
moment decreased as FTCs were repeated.
It is known that prestress loss often occurs due to
elastic shortening, bending, creep and shrinkage of the
concrete; and to steel relaxation, anchorage take-up and
frictional loss between the prestressing reinforcement and
its surrounding materials. Moreover, prestress losses can
also occur due to environmental factors, such as chloride
penetration, FTCs and so on. A prestressed concrete
member should maintain the effective prestressing force at
a significant level, together with appropriate material
properties, during the entire life of the structure. It is,
therefore, very important to estimate any prestress losses
that might occur (Kim, Yun, Ryu, & Cho, 2004).
For prestressed concrete members in cold regions,
prestress losses due to FTCs are critical to the performance
and life evaluation of prestressed concrete members. Zhou
(2008) attempted to measure the prestress losses of
uniaxial prestressed concrete members due to FTCs by a
through-hole load cell, but failed because the prestress loss
due to anchorage take-up was unexpectedly large, which
resulted in a very low effective prestress force in the
tendons. The short length of the prestressed concrete
member (only 400 mm long) and an inappropriate

anchorage type (wedge anchor) may have been the main

factors that led to the absence of prestress in the members.
The main objective of this experimental research work
is to analyse the changes in prestress losses in posttensioned concrete when subjected to FTCs. In this work,
an experimental programme comprised over 125 FTCs,
which were performed on a series of post-tensioned
concrete specimens. We investigated the influences of
concrete mix design, and the cross section and eccentricity
of prestress wires on prestress loss while subjected to
FTCs. In addition, a mathematical model was used to
predict prestress losses; the predicted results were then
compared with the experimental measurements.

2.

Test technique

Normally, two methods are used to monitor the prestress

force in the prestressing reinforcement. One method
monitors the force with a gauge, such as foil strain gauge
or vibrational chord strain gauge, attached to the prestressing
reinforcement. The strain in the prestressing reinforcement
measured by the gauge is then transformed into force by
multiplying it by Youngs modulus of the reinforcement.
The second method is to place a through-hole load cell at the
anchorage end to test the prestress force directly.
A strain gauge is unsuitable for measuring the prestress
force in a freeze thaw chamber. Because of the rapid
change of temperature in the chamber, it is hard to ensure
that the compensating gauge is at the same temperature as
that inside the specimen. There is also insufficient space
inside the specimen for the installation of the vibrational
chord strain gauge due to the limited chamber size.
Learning from the experience of Zhou (2008), we
successfully measured prestress losses in the freeze thaw
chamber by making the following improvements to the test
method: (i) the length of the specimen was increased, (ii)
the prestress tendon and wedge-type anchorage were
replaced by a prestress wire and button-head anchorage,
respectively, which reduced the prestress loss due to the
anchorage take-up. In this study, specimens were prepared
using a post-tensioning method, as shown in Figure 1.
A hydraulic actuator with an end-adjustable anchorage
device was placed at one end of the specimen to tension
the prestress wire and permanent anchorage. At the
opposite end of the specimen, the applied prestress force
was monitored by a waterproof CCG though-hole load cell
(Applied Measurements Limited, Berkshire, UK) capable
of measuring up to 160 kN with a sensitivity of 0.15%.

3.
3.1.

Experimental programme
Materials

Two concrete mix designs (named Type A and Type B)

were used (Tables 1 and 2). The measured compressive

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

Figure 1.

Table 1.

Post-tensioning layout.

Materials used for the concrete mix.

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Components
Cement
Water
Fine aggregates
Coarse aggregates
Fly ash
Additives

PO, 42.5R
Tap water
River sand, fineness module 2.6
Crushed stone, 5 31.5 mm
Class II fly ash
JM-9 composite water reducing agent

Note: PO represents ordinary Portland cement; JM-9 is a designation

of composite water reducing agent (Jiangsu Sobute New Materials
Limited, Nanjing, China).

Table 2. Concrete mix designs.

Designation
3

Cement (kg/m )
Water cement ratio
River sand (kg/m3)
Crushed stone (kg/m3)
Fly ash (kg/m3)
Composite water reducing agent (kg/m3)
Air content (%)
Compressive strength at 60 days (MPa)

463
0.38
599
1139
62
8.93
2.8
80.3

380
0.46
712
1103
50
6.02
3.0
69.0

strengths for Types A and B at the age of 60 days were

69.0 MPa and 80.3 MPa, respectively (Table 2). Hot-rolled
ribbed steel bar of either 10 or 8 mm diameter was used
as the longitudinal reinforcement. The transverse steel
reinforcement was a hot-rolled plain steel bar with a
diameter of 4 mm. The prestressing reinforcement was a
5 mm low-relaxation steel wire with a nominal ultimate
strength of 1570 MPa. The physical and mechanical
parameters of the reinforcements are shown in Table 3.

3.2.

Specimens

Specimens were 1000 mm long with either of two different

types of cross section: (i) two specimens with a cross
section of 100 100 mm2 (a) and with a concentric
prestress cable (Figure 2(a)); (ii) four specimens with a
cross section of 100 150 mm2 (b) and with an eccentric

cable of 30 mm (Figure 2(b)). All specimens were subjected

to the same casting and curing conditions.
After curing for 60 days, the specimens were
prestressed by a hydraulic actuator to a nominal prestress
level in the wires of about 65% of the ultimate strength.
The tensioning procedure of the wire is listed below:
. Lining up the prestress wire in the duct with anchorage

devices at both ends.

. Tensioning the prestress wire by the hydraulic actuator

(Figure 3(a)).
. Tensioning the prestress wire up to 1.03 times of the

nominal prestress level to decrease the prestress

relaxation losses.
. Screwing the outer ring of the end-adjustable
anchorage to create a permanent anchorage (Figure 3
(b)).
. Demounting the hydraulic actuator by unscrewing it
from the specimen (Figure 3(c)).

3.3.

Programme

The specimens in the freeze thaw chamber were used to

test the total prestress loss (Dsl ). The corresponding
specimens exposed to the indoor environment were only
used to measure the prestress loss caused by other factors
(DslO ), such as shrinkage and creep and so on. The
prestress loss of the specimens in the freeze thaw
chamber minus the prestress loss of those outside was
used to estimate the prestress loss due to the FTCs (DslF ).
Table 4 shows the various combinations of concrete
mix design and cross section of each specimen and the
environment in which they were tested. Concrete mix
Type A was combined with both types of cross sections, a
(100 100 mm2) and b (100 150 mm2), while concrete
mix Type B was only combined with cross section b (100
150 mm2 ). It was not possible to test all the
combinations because of the limited size of the freeze
thaw chamber.
Each specimen is designated: M C S, where M is the
concrete mix type (A or B), C is the cross section of the
specimen (a or b) and S is the storage condition (F or U).
F represents the condition of in the freeze thaw chamber

4
Table 3.

D.-f. Cao et al.

Physical and mechanical properties of the reinforcements.

Characteristics

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Diameter (mm)
Yield strength (MPa)
Ultimate strength (MPa)
Youngs modulus (GPa)

Figure 2.

Longitudinal reinforcement
10
373
526
186

8
360
517
176

Transverse
reinforcement

Prestressing
reinforcement

4
462
569
187

5
1550
1624
198

Cross sections of the specimens, (a) 100 100 mm2 cross section, (b) 100 150 mm2 cross section. Length unit: mm.

and U represents the condition of under the indoor

environment.
After prestressing was applied to the specimens for
30 days, three specimens designated F, i.e. A-a-F, A-b-F
and B-b-F, were placed into the freeze thaw chamber to
perform a rapid freeze thaw in water test, while the other
three specimens, i.e. the corresponding U group, were
placed outside under the indoor environment. All F
specimens were immersed in water for 48 h prior to
testing, and the corresponding U group were covered
with straw mats and sprayed with water twice per day to

Figure 3. Tensioning procedure of prestress wire, (a) tensioning

the prestress wire by the hydraulic actuator, (b) screwing the outer
ring of the end-adjustable anchorage to create a permanent
anchorage, (c) demounting the hydraulic actuator by unscrewing
it from the specimen.

ensure that groups both inside and outside of the chamber

experienced the same relative humidity.
The freeze thaw test followed the ASTM C666-03
ASTM C666 (2008) Procedure A (Figure 4). In this FTC
procedure, the temperature of the specimen was first
decreased from 5 to 2 168C and then increased from
2 16 to 58C over a period of 2.8 h during which time
cooling took 2.0 h and heating took 0.8 h, i.e. 28.6% of the
time was used for thawing. Moreover, the time taken to
decrease the core temperature of a specimen from 3 to
2 168C was about 1.7 h, and the time taken to increase it
from 2 16 to 38C was 0.75 h. The period of transition
between the freezing and thawing phases of the cycle was
5 min. As described above, a through-hole load cell was
installed at the end of the anchor to measure the load
applied by the steel wires (Figure 5), which was connected
to an electric resistive indicator (Yangzhou Test Limited,
Yangzhou, China) (Figure 6). This set-up allows
the measurement results to be recorded every 25 cycles
when the temperature at the centre of a single specimen
reaches 58C.
In addition, cubic specimens with a side length of
100 mm were also placed in the chamber to measure the
mechanical properties of the concrete under FTCs. These
cubic specimens were tested at the same time that the
prestress forces were recorded. The mechanical properties
of concrete that had been damaged by the FTCs are listed
in Table 5, and the deterioration trends of concrete under
FTCs are shown in Figure 7. These tests were performed
mainly by Cao Da-fu and Qin Xiao-chuan in Yangzhou
University in 2011.

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

Table 4.

Test programme.

Initial compressive
stress in the
concrete at the
layer of the
prestressing
Concrete Cross
Prestress
wires (MPa)
Specimens
mix
sections force (kN)
A-a-F
A-a-U
A-b-F
A-b-U
B-b-F
B-b-U

A
A
A
A
B
B

a
a
b
b
b
b

60.07
60.07
60.07
60.07
60.07
60.07

5.63
5.63
5.93
5.93
6.14
6.14

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Figure 5. Load cell at the passive end.

For the concrete mix design Type A: Ec EcA

36:8 GPa;
f n f A n 1:01745 20:01681 e0:01686n : 1:1
For the concrete mix design Type B: Ec EcB
35:5 GPa;
f n f B n 1:00611 20:00605 e0:02999n : 1:2

Figure 4. Freeze thaw procedure (ASTM C666-03 (2008

Procedure A)).

4.
4.1.

Numerical simulation of freeze thaw prestress loss

General considerations

To the best of our knowledge, the issue of prestress loss

due to FTCs is not mentioned in the available standards,
and no equations have been developed for predicting such
freeze thaw prestress losses. Youngs modulus of the
concrete material gradually decreases as the FTCs are
repeated (Duan et al., 2011). The damage function of
Youngs modulus is described by Equation (1):
Ec n Ec f n;

where Ec is Youngs modulus of the concrete before

freeze thaw starts and f n is the function that affects the
value of Youngs modulus following damage to the
specimen subjected to n FTCs.
The respective functions affecting Youngs modulus of
FTC-damaged specimens made from the two different
concrete mix designs were obtained by fitting equation (1)
to the experimental data presented in Table 5. The fitted
results are shown in Equations (1.1) and (1.2).

In prestressed concrete members, the decrease of

Youngs modulus of the concrete causes an additional
deformation of the member. According to the deformation
compatibility condition, this deformation also occurs in
prestressing reinforcements which will cause further
prestress loss.
This modelling analysis incorporates the following
assumptions: (1) Youngs modulus of prestress wires does
not change under FTCs, (2) the concrete and prestress
wires deform compatibly.

4.2. Case of uniaxial prestressed concrete members

The bottom chord of a prestressed concrete truss is usually
a direct tension member with prestressed reinforcements at
the centroid of the section, so it can be simplified into a
uniaxial prestressed concrete member. We assume the
pressure applied to the test specimen by prestressing wires
to be P0 before the FTCs start. The strain 1c 0 in the
concrete at the layer of the prestressing wire is
1c 0

P0
;
As Es Ac Ec f 0

where Es is Youngs modulus of the longitudinal

reinforcement, As is the cross-sectional area of the
longitudinal reinforcement and Ac is the net crosssectional area of the concrete specimen.

Downloaded by [SENESCYT ] at 15:18 26 March 2015

D.-f. Cao et al.

Figure 6.

Test apparatus.

Table 5. Mechanical properties of concrete damaged by FTCs.

Compressive strength
Designation FTCs
A

0
25
50
75
100
125
0
25
50
75
100
125

Youngs modulus

Abs.
(MPa)

Rel.
(%)

Abs.
(GPa)

Rel.
(%)

80.3
76.4
72.0
67.3
58.4
48.7
69.0
65.3
61.3
55.6
45.2
30.8

100
95
90
84
73
61
100
95
89
81
66
45

36.8
36.5
35.9
35.3
34.0
32.4
35.5
35.3
34.8
33.6
31.5
26.6

100
99
98
96
92
88
100
99
98
95
89
75

Hence, the strain increment D1c n 2 1; n from the

nth 2 1 cycle to the nth cycle is described according to
Equation (3).

Pn 2 1
:
As Es Ac Ec f n 2 1

Pn Pn 2 1 2 Ep Ap D1c n:

Equation (5) is then obtained from Equations (3)

and (4)
1 Ep Ap =As Es Ac Ec f n 2 1

Pn

;
Pn 2 1
1 Ep Ap =As Es Ac Ec f n

where Ap represents the cross-sectional area of the

prestress wires.
Let An 1 Ep Ap =As Es Ac Ec f n
, Equation (5)
can be simplified as:

Pn

P0A0
:
An

The prestress loss of the concrete specimen after n

FTCs is then expressed as

Pn
D1c n 2 1; n
As Es Ac Ec f n

2

The pressure applied by the prestressing reinforcement

after n FTCs is then calculated according to Equation (4).

DslF n

P01 2 A0=An

:
Ap

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

FTCs, the prestress loss in a beam is similar to that in a

uniaxial member. As described in Section 4.2, if we
assume the pressure applied by the prestress wires to
be P0 before the FTCs start, then the strain 1c 0 in
the concrete at the layer of the prestressing wire is given
by

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1c 0

P01=A e 2 =I
;
Ec f 0

where A is the cross-sectional area of the beam, I is the

inertia moment of the cross section and e is the
eccentricity.
Following the deduction process of the uniaxial
prestressed concrete member, and letting Bn 1
1=A e 2 =IEp Ap =Ec f n
, then Pn and DslF n are
described as follows:

Pn

DslF n

P0B0
;
Bn

P01 2 B0=Bn

:
Ap

10

5. Results and discussions

5.1. Test results
Figure 7. Deteriorations of concrete under FTCs, (a) relative
compressive strength under FTCs, (b) relative Youngs modulus
under FTCs.

4.3.

Case of prestressed concrete beams

The prestressed concrete beam is the most common type

of member in a prestressed concrete structure. Under
Table 6.

Specimens

The test results under 0, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125 FTCs are
summarised in Table 6, including the prestress losses of Aa-F, A-b-F and B-b-F (Dsl ) and those of A-a-U, A-b-U and
B-b-U (DslO ) of the corresponding specimens placed in
the indoor environment.
In order to show the process of separating the prestress
loss due to the FTCs from other sources, the prestress losses

Prestress losses.
Concrete
mix

Cross
section

Exposure

A-a-F

A-a-U

A-b-F

A-b-U

B-b-F

B-b-U

FTCs

Test
results

25

50

75

100

125

sAa
(MPa)
F
(MPa)
DsAa
l
sAa
(MPa)
U
DsAa
lO (MPa)
sAb
(MPa)
F
DsAb
(MPa)
l
sAb
(MPa)
U
DsAb
lO (MPa)
sFBb (MPa)
DslBb (MPa)
sUBb (MPa)
Bb
DslO
(MPa)

1019.94
0
1003.75
0
1013.17
0
1014.68
0
1020.17
0
1015.68
0

1018.94
1
1002.87
0.88
1012.89
0.28
1014.68
0
1018.67
1.5
1014.99
0.69

1016.94
3
1001.73
2.02
1011.88
1.29
1013.96
0.73
1016.67
3.5
1014.3
1.38

1013.93
6.01
998.92
4.83
1010.21
2.96
1012.5
2.18
1015.68
4.49
1013.61
2.07

1012.43
7.51
998.6
5.15
1007.09
6.07
1010.33
4.35
1012.68
7.49
1012.92
2.76

1006.42
13.52
993.49
10.26
1003.93
9.23
1008.88
5.8
1006.69
13.48
1011.54
4.14

Note: A represents concrete mix A; B represents concrete mix B. a represents 100 100 mm2 cross section with a concentrically located hole; b
represents 100 150 mm2 cross section with an eccentricity of 30 mm. F represents In the freezethaw chamber, and U represents Under the indoor
environment.

D.-f. Cao et al.

under the FTCs in the freezethaw chamber is larger than that
of A-a. For those specimens with the same cross section and
eccentricity (B-b and A-b), the freezethaw prestress losses
of the specimens formed with the Type B mix are larger than
those of concrete Type A. In these specimens, the greatest
prestress loss due to the FTCs was 9.34 MPa, which occurred
in B-b after 125 FTCs. However, compared with the tension
control stress scon (65% of the nominal ultimate strength), the
prestress losses due to the FTCs (DslF ) are very small, being
less than 1% of scon . This indicates that the damage due to the
FTC has only a small effect on the prestress loss of the
specimens at the early stage.

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Figure 8.

Prestress losses for specimen A-a.

of specimen A-a are depicted as an example in Figure 8 in

which Curve 1, which was obtained from the prestress loss
of the specimen in the freeze thaw chamber at each of 25
FTCs, represents the total prestress loss (Dsl ). Curve 2 was
obtained from the prestress loss in the corresponding
specimen under the indoor environment to determine the
prestress loss caused by other factors (DslO ). By subtracting
the prestress loss of the specimen under the indoor
environment from that under the FTCs in the freeze thaw
chamber, i.e. Dsl  DslO , the prestress losses due to FTCs
(DslF ) at each of 25 FTCs were obtained.
Figure 9 shows the prestress losses caused by the FTCs
and by other factors for all specimens tested. For those
specimens formulated with the same concrete mix, i.e. A-a
and A-b, the total prestress losses of the specimen with the
smaller cross section and non-eccentricity (A-a) are larger
than those for the specimen with the larger cross section (Ab). On the other hand, the proportional prestress loss of A-b

Figure 9.

Measured prestress losses.

5.2. Comparison of test results and predicted

prestress losses
The prestress losses of the specimens were predicted
according to Equations (7) and (10). The test results and
the predicted prestress losses for specimens A-a, A-b and
B-b are shown in Figure 10. Figure 10(a) shows that
Equation (7) fits the results of specimen A-a quite well.
Equation (10) fits the results of specimens A-b and B-b
well with only small errors which might have been caused
by the test system, as shown in Figure 10(b),(c). It is clear
that Equations (7) and (10) are capable of predicting the
freeze thaw prestress loss of the uniaxial prestressed
concrete member and of the prestressed concrete beam,
respectively.
From both Equations (7) and (10), it can be seen that
the prestress loss of a concrete specimen depends on the
damage function affecting Youngs modulus f n.
Figure 11 shows the relationships between Equations (7)
and (10) and f n. Each open circle on the dashed line
represents the predicted results based on Equation (7) or
Equation (10) with f n being 1, 0.9 and 0.8, etc.
Moreover, since the effectiveness of Equations (7) and
(10) has already been proven, as shown in Figure 10, and
the trends of prestress loss due to the FTCs calculated by
the models are in good accordance with the deterioration
law of the concrete under the FTCs, the extrapolation of
the models might shed light on the discussion about the
freeze thaw prestress loss over 125 FTCs.
As shown in Figure 11, during the early stage of the
FTC test, for example when there have been less than 100
FTCs, the variation of f n and DslF is quite small, which
indicates that the prestress loss due to the FTCs is small
during this period even if some damage has already
occurred in the concrete material. However, with an
increase of the FTCs, both f n and DslF decrease rapidly,
and DslF falls at a faster rate than f n. For specimen A-a
(Figure 11(a)), if f n is larger than 0.3, the prestress loss
due to the FTCs is less than 50 MPa (5% scon ), while if
f n equals 0.1, DslF is more than 100 MPa (10% scon ).
For specimens A-b and B-b (Figure 11(b),(c)), DslF is

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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

Figure 10. Test results and predicted prestress loss, (a) comparison of the test results with the predicted results by Equation (7) for the
concrete specimen A, (b) comparison of the test results with the predicted results by Equation (10) for the concrete specimen A-b,
(c) comparison of the test results with the predicted results by Equation (10) for the concrete specimen B-b.

more than 200 MPa (20% scon ) if f n equals 0.1. This

clearly shows that the prestress loss is highly dependent on
the damage suffered by the concrete, which can be
correlated with the significant decrease of Youngs
modulus of elasticity.
Comparing the ultimate state of Figure 11(a) with that
of Figure 11(b), the predicted freeze thaw prestress loss
of specimen A-a is 114 MPa, which is about 100 MPa less
than that of specimen A-b. It is probably the eccentricity
factor that causes this difference. The comparison of the
ultimate states in Figure 11(b),(c) shows that the
specimens with the same cross section and eccentricity
result in a similar prestress loss due to the FTCs, and that
the relatively high strength concrete could withstand more
FTCs. The effects of these two factors, i.e. the eccentricity
and the concrete strength, on the prestress loss due to the
FTCs according to Equations (7) and (10) are shown in
Figures 12 and 13.
As shown in Figure 12, specimen A-b was assumed to
have different eccentricities, i.e. 10, 20 and 30 mm.

It should be noted that results for specimens with

eccentricities of 10 and 20 mm, and specimens subjected
to more than 125 FTCs were not physically tested, but
were predicted by Equation (10) and have been included in
Figure (12) to better show the relationship between the
prestress losses due to the FTCs and eccentricity.
Moreover, all the results shown in Figure 12 were
calculated according to Equation (10). As shown in
Figure 12, the larger the eccentricity, the more the
prestress loss will be obtained. However, the prestress loss
does not increase at as fast a rate as that shown in
Figure 13. Comparing the case of e 10 mm with that of
e 30 mm after 200 FTCs, although the eccentricity has
increased by 200%, the prestress loss only increased from
19.51 to 26.97 MPa, which is equivalent to about 38%.
The compressive stress in the concrete at the layer of
the prestressing wires in the specimen with the eccentricity
of 10 mm is 4.22 MPa, which is smaller than that in the
specimen with the eccentricity of 30 mm (5.93 MPa).
If other conditions are the same, a larger eccentricity will

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10

D.-f. Cao et al.

Figure 11. Comparison of the concrete freeze thaw damage and the prestress loss due to the FTCs, (a) comparison of the concrete
freeze thaw damage fA(n) with the predicted results by Equation (7) for the concrete specimen A-a, (b) comparison of the concrete
freeze thaw damage fA(n) with the predicted results by Equation (10) for the concrete specimen A-b, (c) comparison of the concrete
freeze thaw damage fB(n) with the predicted results by Equation (10) for the concrete specimen B-b.

produce larger compressive stress in concrete in the

longitudinal direction as well as larger splitting stress in
the transverse direction. Furthermore, the tensile stress in
the longitudinal direction might occur at the concrete layer
that is farthest from the prestress wires due to the larger
eccentricity. These stresses in the concrete may result in
more internal cracks prior to the FTCs. Thus, the concrete

Figure 12.

Effects of eccentricity on prestress loss due to FTCs.

specimen with the eccentricity of e 30 mm will have

more internal cracks, which allow water to penetrate into
it. Furthermore, more expansion in the concrete can be
caused when frozen. When the expansion tensile stress
exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete, new internal
cracks will occur and the old cracks will propagate. In that

Figure 13.
FTCs.

Effects of concrete strength on prestress loss due to

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Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

case, the concrete specimen will absorb more water during
the next thawing period. When subjected to such FTCs, the
concrete will become crispy and Youngs modulus will
decrease. Therefore, the larger the eccentricity, the quicker
Youngs modulus drops, and the larger the freeze thaw
prestress loss will be.
As observed in Figure 13, the damage function of the
concrete, in which Youngs modulus equals 36.2 GPa
(compressive strength at 60 days is equal to 74.7 MPa),
was obtained through an interpolation between f A n and
f B n. Similar to the case shown in Figure 12, the concrete
with the interpolated damage function was not a tested
concrete; instead, its prestress loss results that were
predicted by Equations (7) and (10) are included in
Figure 13 to better show the relationship between the
freeze thaw prestress loss and the concrete strength.
Furthermore, the predicted results for the concrete
specimen with cross section a (concentrically prestressed)
were calculated by Equation (7), and those for the concrete
specimen with cross section b (e 30 mm) were
calculated by Equation (10). It is obvious that the prestress
losses of the concrete specimen due to the FTCs increase
sharply while the concrete strength decreases, especially
under high FTCs. Taking b (150 FTCs) as an example,
the prestress loss of the concrete Type B (Ec 35.5 GPa)
is 35.93 MPa, which is nearly five times higher than that of
the concrete Type A (Ec 36.8 GPa), 7.38 MPa.
The different concretes exhibit different resistance to
the FTCs after the same number of FTCs. This is because
the formation and growth of the internal cracks of the
different concretes during the FTCs are not the same.
These cracks exist mainly in the paste and paste
aggregate interfaces when the concrete hardens, even if
there is no load or environmental effect. During the
concrete hardening process, the concrete (e.g. Type B
concrete in this test) with a higher water cement ratio,
i.e. with a relatively lower strength, tends to contain more
internal cracks. When the concrete specimen is immersed
in water, it will absorb more water into the concretes
pore system. As the temperature drops below the freezing
point of water, the water will turn into ice accompanied
by a 9% volume increase, which causes tensile stress
inside the concrete. If the tensile stress in concrete is
higher than the tensile strength of concrete material, new
internal cracks will form and the old cracks will grow
larger. As the FTCs are repeated, more and more water
will be absorbed into the concrete during thawing, which
causes larger expansion and more internal cracks during
freezing. The load carrying area will decrease with the
formation and growth of the internal cracks, which leads
to a decrease in the compressive strength. Because there
are fewer micro-units to carry the load with the FTCs
being repeated, each unit will reach its elastic limit more
quickly. Hence, the value of Youngs modulus of the
relatively low-strength concrete after being subjected to

11

FTCs decreases more quickly than does that of the

relatively high-strength concrete. The quicker the value
of Youngs modulus falls, the larger the freeze thaw
prestress loss will be.
For the two factors mentioned above, i.e. the
eccentricity and the concrete strength, which were
considered in the test programme, less prestress losses
were recorded for those cases with smaller values of
eccentricity and greater concrete compressive strength.
Concrete strength is the most dominant factor influencing
prestress losses due to FTCs.
6. Conclusions
The prestress losses due to the FTCs in the post-tensioned
prestressed concrete specimens have been studied by
experiments and theoretical analysis. The present experimental study and numerical simulation have shown that
FTCs accelerate the degradation process of concrete
material: the concrete is slightly affected when the number
of FTCs is small, but the internal cracks will grow as the
FTCs are repeated, thus making the macroscopic
mechanical properties of the concrete deteriorate quicker
and quicker. This leads to the fact that the freeze thaw
prestress loss is relatively small when the concrete is not
severely damaged, but becomes greater at an everincreasing rate as the FTCs are repeated.
When the concrete mix design, the cross section of the
concrete specimen and the tension control stress in the
prestress wires are the same, greater eccentricity produces
larger compressive stress in the concrete in the
longitudinal direction as well as larger splitting stress in
the transverse direction. Furthermore, the tensile stress
might occur at the concrete layer that is farthest from
the prestress wires due to the larger eccentricity.
These stresses in the concrete result in more internal
cracks, forming before the FTCs start, which is the reason
why the freeze thaw damage is more severe in members
with larger eccentricity. Thus, under the same conditions,
the larger the eccentricity, the more the freeze thaw
prestress loss will be. When the concrete material has been
severely damaged by a number of FTCs, the frame of the
reinforcing steel bars will be the main structure to carry the
prestress. That is to say, the same cross section and
eccentricity will result in a similar ultimate prestress loss
due to the severe effects of the FTCs even when the mix
designs are different. However, due to there being fewer
internal cracks in the relatively high-strength concrete, the
concrete will absorb less water into the concrete pore
systems when it is immersed in water, which will result in
less freeze thaw damage inside the concrete. The load
carrying area decreases more slowly with the formation
and growth of the internal cracks compared to the freeze
thaw damage process in the relatively low-strength
concrete. Because there are more micro-units to carry

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D.-f. Cao et al.

the load as the FTCs are repeated, each unit reaches its
plastic stage more slowly. Hence, Youngs modulus of
relatively high-strength concrete after it has been
subjected to FTCs decreases at a slower rate than does
that of relatively low-strength concrete. The slower the
rate at which Youngs modulus falls, the smaller the
freeze thaw prestress loss. In other words, the relatively
high-strength concrete structure can withstand more FTCs.
The models developed in this paper are capable of
predicting the prestress loss in the uniaxial prestressed
concrete member and in the prestressed concrete beam
when subjected to FTCs if the mechanical properties of the
concrete material at the corresponding ages and environmental conditions are available. In engineering practice,
real-time monitoring of the prestress loss due to the FTCs
could be performed by measuring the mechanical properties of concrete material under the same environmental
conditions. Moreover, if these properties can be predicted
in future investigations, it will be possible to apply the
models proposed here.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
Funding for this experimental research work was provided by
the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant
number 50978224], [grant number 51378104] and the Priority
Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education
Institutions. Tests were conducted at the School of Civil
Science and Engineering of the Yangzhou University, China.

Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Email: dfcao@yzu.edu.cn.
Email: msp1960@vip.sina.com.
Email: yongming.tu@ltu.se.
Email: Lennart.Elfgren@ltu.se.
Email: Natalia.Sabourova@ltu.se.
Email: Niklas.Grip@ltu.se.
Email: Ulf.Ohlsson@ltu.se.
Email: thomas.blanksvard@ltu.se.

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