Abstract
Impact is a high-intensity shock load applied for a short interval of time. Such a force is more damaging than a lower magnitude force applied over a proportionally longer period of time. Prestressed concrete (PSC) beams encounter these loads from a variety of sources during their service life as structural members. Here, an endeavour to carry out numerical studies to study the effect of prestressing force on the impact resistance of a PSC beam is undertaken using finite element software ANSYS. In this paper, a simple supported rectangular prestressed concrete beam of 100 mm × 100 mm in cross-section and 1200 mm length is used to compare the impact strength of prestressed beams due to prestressing forces of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 kN. The results of the study indicate that the capacity of the beam to absorb energy increases with an increase in prestressing force.
