Prestressing is a technology that enhances the capabilities of concrete through application of counteracting forces. The strength of prestressed beams depends on the tension of the steel tendons, which experiences short-term and long-term losses due to elastic deformations, anchorage friction, creep of concrete and tendon relaxation. This paper presents a method for the identification of axial prestress forces in simply supported beams. Numerical results are presented which show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The strategy uses a genetic algorithm to minimize the difference between the measured and the predicted dynamic response at a single point; the former is obtained from an accelerometer that records the acceleration induced by an external dynamic force, and the latter is calculated from a finite element model of the beam. The uncertainty of model parameters is handled through the inclusion of generic element matrices in the model so that the axial prestress force and the generic parameters are updated simultaneously throughout the iterative process, thus avoiding the assumption of a particular set of fixed beam parameters. The simulations show the suitability of the method for its application in the identification of axial prestress forces in real beams and provide insight on numerical and experimental issues to be considered in a future experimental phase.
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