Proceedings on Engineering Sciences | 2026
Authors: El Awady M.A.; Elsaid A.; Basal M.A.
DOI: 10.24874/PES08.01A.014
Journal: Proceedings on Engineering Sciences
Year: 2026
Publisher: Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access
Cited by: 0
This work evaluates how tendon size distribution and member depth affect the flexural performance of prestressed hollow-core slabs, with the total prestressing steel area kept constant. A parametric numerical program was carried out in Concise Beam, considering tendon diameters of 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm and slab depths of 200, 320, and 400 mm, subjected to a single point load at midspan. For each configuration, the cracking moment, ultimate flexural capacity, and the depth of the compression zone were extracted to quantify the effect of changing tendon diameter at equal steel area. To check the numerical predictions, independent calculations were implemented in MATLAB, showing close agreement with the software output. The analyses consistently show that using multiple medium-diameter tendons (10 mm) yields the most favorable response, producing higher cracking and resistance moments and a more effective compression-zone development. In contrast, larger individual strands (15–20 mm) lead to lower flexural efficiency even when the steel area is unchanged, suggesting that concentrating prestress into fewer larger tendons is less advantageous. These results support the use of distributed prestressing layouts in precast hollow-core systems and motivate further research on how tendon spacing and slab width govern the prestress influence region. © 2026 Published by Faculty of Engineering.
Compression depth; Cracking moment; Flexural resistance; Hollow-core slab; Numerical modeling; Prestressed concrete; Tendon diameter