Kevlar reinforced composites show considerable promise for use as prestressing tendons. their high strength, low relaxation properties and resistance to chloride induced corrosion make them attractivefor the design of prestressed concrete bridge decks and for rehabilitation or strengthening of existing bridge decks. experimental workusing kevlar reinforced tendons for slab structures is presented and the design guidelines for using brittle materials in post-tensioning tendons are discussed. structural issues of anchorage and reliance on resin socketed terminations and research necessary to develop composites to construction grade standards are addressed. this paper appears in transportation research record no. 1290, third bridge engineering conference, march 10-13, 1991, denver, colorado, volume 1.
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