Experimental research on mechanical properties of prestressed truss concrete composite beam encased with circular steel tube

Tests of 4 simply supported unbonded prestressed truss concrete composite beams encased with circular steel tube were carried out. It is found that the ratio of the stress increment of the unbonded tendon to that of the tensile steel tube is 0.252 during the using stage, and the average crack space of beams depends on the ratio of the sum of the bottom chord steel tube's outside diameter and the secondary bottom chord steel tube's section area to the effective tensile concrete area. The coefficient of uneven crack distribution is 1.68 and the formula for the calculation of crack width is established. Test results indicate that the ultimate stress increment of unbonded tendon in the beams decreases in linearity with the increase of the composite reinforcement index β₀. The pure bending region of beams accords with the plane section assumption from loading to failure. The calculation formula of ultimate stress increment of the unbonded tendon and the method to calculate the bearing capacity of normal section of beams have been presented. Besides, the method to calculate the stiffness of this sort of beams is brought forward as well.