Control of Prestressing Force in Rod for Reducing Bending in Beams

This paper presents a method to determine the prestressing force required in a rod for reducing the bending effects in a beam. The rod is positioned underneath the beam such that the prestressing force is counteracting the effects of beam bending. It has been found that the prestressing force may also increase the bending as a result of P-δ effect. Therefore, the choice of both the prestressing force and the rod eccentricity from the beam axis is important in determining the appropriate actions to resist the bending of the beam. Over-prestressing the rod may even induce bending or buckling failure in the beam in the reverse direction.