Development of Design Guidelines for Prestressed Stayed Structures

Prestressed stayed columns are usually employed where slenderness and light weight are the main design objectives. They are aesthetically pleasing and an effective means of resisting axial compression using tensioned wires or rods to prestress the column. These tensioned wires or rods enable the column to withstand a higher force before failure compared to traditional columns. There have been numerous studies into these types of structures, however there is a lack of full scale (3D) numerical investigation to accurately replicate its behaviour. In addition, thorough reliability analysis of developed design guidance is also lacking. The aims of the research are to: 1. understand the buckling and post buckling behaviour of this type of structural system with the use of validated 3-dimensional numerical models, 2. update existing design recommendations and guidance, 3. investigate the reliability of the developed design guidance through the use of reliability analysis tools