BEHAVIOUR OF PRECAST PRESTRESSED R. C. TRUSSES

Abstract

Precast structures are those in which large sized structural components are manufactured either in a factory , or at a place close to the construction site and assembly is done at the site. The components may be beams, columns, wall panels, roof panels or complete room or even a group of rooms may be prefabricated as a single unit. Almost all typeS of industry need simple, economical covered roof for conducting the manufacturing operations. Precast R.C. trusses can become extremely competitive for these purposes and also for bridges. Not much work is done on the performance of these trusses. More research is required to understand the behaviour of such trusses. This thesis presents the results of an investigation undertaken (a) to study the behaviour i.e. deflection, ultimate load, surface strains ec. of precast prestressed R.C. trusses (b) to compare the behaviour of monolithic truss with jointed trusses (c) to study the behaviour of joints materials of precast prestressed trusses. Experimental work consisted of casting and testing of three trusses. One truss was cast monolithically. In the other two trusses, each member was cast separately and then they were jointed by welding the r/f coming out of these members and joints filled with concrete. The epoxy resin was poured on the interface of joints on one of these two trusses