C h a p t e r XVI

The Tendon Object

Tendons are a special type of object that can be embedded inside other objects
(frames, shells, planes, asolids, and solids) to represent the effect of prestressing
and post-tensioning. These tendons attach to the other objects and impose load
upon them.

Advanced Topics
• Overview
• Geometry
• Discretization
• Tendons Modeled as Loads or Elements
• Connectivity
• Degrees of Freedom
• Local Coordinate Systems
• Section Properties
• Nonlinear Properties
• Mass
• Prestress Load

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• Self-Weight Load
• Gravity Load
• Temperature Load
• Strain Load
• Deformation Load
• Target-Force Load
• Internal Force Output

Overview
Tendons are a special type of object that can be embedded inside other objects
(frames, shells, planes, asolids, and solids) to represent the effect of prestressing
and post-tensioning. These tendons attach to the other objects through which they
pass and impose load upon them.

You may specify whether the tendons are to be modeled as independent elements in
the analysis, or just to act upon the rest of the structure as loads. Modeling as loads
is adequate for linear analyses when you know the losses that will be caused by
elastic shortening and time-dependent effects.

Tendons should be modeled as elements if you want the program to calculate the
losses due to elastic shortening and time-dependent effects, if you want to consider
nonlinearity in the Tendons, or if you want to know the forces acting in the Tendons
due to other loading on the structure.

Tendon objects share some features with Frame elements, which will be cross-ref-
erenced in this Chapter.

Geometry
Any number of tendons may be defined. Each tendon is drawn or defined as a type
of line object between two joints, I and j. The two joints must not share the same lo-
cation in space. The two ends of the Tendon are denoted end I and end J, respec-
tively.

The Tendon may have an arbitrary curved or segmented shape in three dimensions
between those points, and may be offset at the ends from these joints.

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Discretization
A Tendon may be a long object with complicated geometry, but it will be automati-
cally discretized into shorter segments for purposes of analysis. You must specify
the maximum length of these discretization segments during the definition of the
Tendon. These lengths can affect how the Tendon loads the structure and the accu-
racy of the analysis results. You should choose shorter lengths for Tendons with
highly curved geometry, or Tendons that pass through parts of the structure with
complicated geometry or changes in properties. If you are not sure what value to
use, try several different values to see how they affect the results.

Tendons Modeled as Loads or Elements

You have a choice for each Tendon how it is to be modeled for analysis:

• As equivalent loads that act upon the structure

• As independent elements with stiffness, mass and loading

Modeling as loads is adequate for linear analyses when you know in advance the
losses that will be caused by elastic shortening and time-dependent effects.

Tendons should be modeled as elements if you want the program to calculate the
losses due to elastic shortening and time-dependent effects, if you want to consider
nonlinearity in the Tendons, or if you want to know the forces acting in the Tendons
due to other loading on the structure. The discretized Tendon is internally analyzed
as a series of equivalent short, straight Frame elements.

Connectivity
The Tendon is connected to Frame, Shell, Plane, Asolid, and Solid elements
through which it passes along its length. This connection is made automatically by
the program. See additional description below for parts of the tendon which do not
fall inside another element.

To determine the elements through which the Tendon passes, the program uses the
concept of a bounding box:

• For Frame elements, the bounding box is a rectangular prism bounded by the
length of the element and its maximum cross-sectional dimensions in the local
2 and 3 directions.

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• For Shell, Plane, and Asolid elements, it is the hexahedron bounded by the four
sides of the element and the upper and lower surfaces in the local 3 direction,
with thickness being considered.
• For Solid elements, it is the volume bounded by the six faces.

By default, the Tendon will be checked for connection against all elements in the
model. You may restrict this by specifying a group of objects to which the Tendon
may connect. The Tendon will not connect to any objects that are not in that group.
See Topic “Groups” (page 9) in Chapter “Objects and Elements” for more informa-
tion. Only elements from objects in this group are considered in the discussion be-
low, where they are called “bounding elements.”

For Tendons modeled as loads, if any portion of the Tendon passes through a
bounding element, load from that portion of the tendon within the bounding ele-
ment is transferred to the joints of that element in a statically equivalent fashion.
The load on any portion of a Tendon that does not fall within a bounding element is
transferred to the nearest joint that is connected to a bounding element.

For Tendons modeled as elements, if any discretization point (i.e., either end of a
discretization segment) falls within a bounding element, that point is connected by
an interpolation constraint to all joints of that element. This means that for large
discretizations, the tendon may not actually be connected to every element through
which it passes. If the end of the entire Tendon object does not fall within a bound-
ing element, it is connected by constraint to the nearest joint that is connected to a
bounding element. However, internal discretization points that do not fall within a
bounding element will not be connected to any element (except to adjacent tendon
elements themselves), so that the tendon will be external to the structure at those lo-
cations.

Degrees of Freedom
The Tendon object has six degrees of freedom along its length. However, its effect
upon the structure depends upon the elements to which it connects. When connect-
ing to Frame and Shell elements, it may transmit forces and moments to the joints in
those elements. When connecting to Planes, Asolids, and Solids, it only transmits
forces to the joints.

Even when modeled as elements, a Tendon adds no additional degrees of freedom

to a structure, since it is always constrained to act with the elements that contain it.
The exception would be if there is a portion of the Tendon which is not embedded
in any other element and acts as a external length of tendon.

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 Chapter XVI The Tendon Object

For more information, please see Topic “Degrees of Freedom” (page 30) in Chapter
“Joints and Degrees of Freedom.”

Local Coordinate Systems

Each Tendon object has two local coordinate systems:

• Base-line local coordinate system, which is fixed for the whole object
• Natural local coordinate system, which varies along the length of the Tendon

These are described in the following.

Base-line Local Coordinate System

The Tendon base-line local coordinate system is used only to define the Tendon
natural local coordinate system.

The axes of base-line system are denoted 1, 2 and 3. The first axis is directed along
the straight line connecting the joints I and j that were used to define the Tendon.
The remaining two axes lie in the plane perpendicular to this axis with an orienta-
tion that you specify. The base-line local coordinate system is fixed for the length
of the Tendon, regardless of the Tendon’s trajectory in space.

Base-line local axes are defined exactly the same as for a Frame element connected
to joints I and j, except the Tendon has zero joint offsets. Please see Topics “Local
Coordinate System” (page 108) and “Advanced Local Coordinate System” (page
110) in Chapter “The Frame Element”.

Natural Local Coordinate System

The Tendon natural local coordinate system is used to define section properties,
loads, and internal force output. This coordinate system is defined with respect to
the base-line local coordinate system as follows:

• The 1 direction is directed along the tangent to the Tendon, in the direction
from end I to end J.
• The 2 direction is parallel to the 1-2 plane of the base-line local coordinate sys-
tem.
• The 3 direction is computed as the cross product of the natural local 1 and 2 di-
rections.

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See Topic “Local Coordinate Systems” (page 312) in this Chapter for more infor-
mation.

Section Properties
A Tendon Section is a set of material and geometric properties that describe the
cross-section of one or more Tendon objects. Sections are defined independently of
the Tendons, and are assigned to the Tendon objects.

The cross section shape is always circular. The Section has axial, shear, bending
and torsional properties, although we are primarily interested in only the axial be-
havior.

Material Properties
The material properties for the Section are specified by reference to a previ-
ously-defined Material. Uniaxial or isotropic material properties are used, even if
the Material selected was defined as orthotropic or anisotropic. The material prop-
erties used by the Section are:

• The modulus of elasticity, e1, for axial stiffness and bending stiffness
• The shear modulus, g12, for torsional stiffness and transverse shear stiffness
• The coefficient of thermal expansion, a1, for axial expansion and thermal
bending strain
• The mass density, m, for computing element mass
• The weight density, w, for computing Self-Weight Loads

The material properties e1, g12, and a1 are all obtained at the material temperature
of each individual Tendon object, and hence may not be unique for a given Section.

See Chapter “Material Properties” (page 69) for more information.

Geometric Properties and Section Stiffnesses

The cross section shape is always circular. You may specify either the diameter or
the area, a. The axial stiffness of the Section is given by a × e1.

The remaining section properties are automatically calculated for the circular
shape. These, along with their corresponding Section stiffnesses, are given by:

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 Chapter XVI The Tendon Object

• The moment of inertia, i33, about the 3 axis for bending in the 1-2 plane, and
the moment of inertia, i22, about the 2 axis for bending in the 1-3 plane. The
corresponding bending stiffnesses of the Section are given by i33 × e1 and
i22 × e1;
• The torsional constant, j. The torsional stiffness of the Section is given by
j × g12. For a circular section, the torsional constant is the same as the polar mo-
ment of inertia.
• The shear areas, as2 and as3, for transverse shear in the 1-2 and 1-3 planes, re-
spectively. The corresponding transverse shear stiffnesses of the Section are
given by as2 × g12 and as3 × g12.

Note that although six stiffness values are computed, only the axial stiffness is of
significance in a practical model. The other terms provide stability but have little
influence on the behavior of the model.

Tension/Compression Limits
You may specify a maximum tension and/or a maximum compression that a Ten-
don may take. In the most common case, you would define no-compression behav-
ior by specifying the compression limit to be zero. Even this may not be needed for
bonded tendons, which can take some compression.

If you specify a tension limit, it must be zero or a positive value. If you specify a
compression limit, it must be zero or a negative value. If you specify a tension and
compression limit of zero, the Tendon will carry no axial force.

The tension/compression limit behavior is elastic. Any axial extension beyond the
tension limit or axial shortening beyond the compression limit will occur with zero
axial stiffness. These deformations are recovered elastically at zero stiffness.

Important! Tension/compression limits are nonlinear, and only affect Tendons

that are modeled as elements, not Tendons modeled as loads. Furthermore, they are
only effective in a nonlinear analysis.

Linear analyses starting from zero conditions (the unstressed state) behave as if
there were no tension/compression limits. Linear analyses that use the stiffness
from the end of a previous nonlinear analysis will have a constant stiffness: zero if a
tension or compression limit was exceeded at the end of the nonlinear case, other-
wise the elastic material stiffness of the tendon.

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Mass
In a dynamic analysis, the mass of the structure is used to compute inertial forces.
When modeled as elements, the mass contributed by the Tendon is lumped at each
discretization point along the length of the Tendon. When modeled as loads, no
mass is contributed to the model. This is not usually of any significance since the
mass of a Tendon is generally small.

The total mass of the Tendon is equal to the integral along the length of the mass
density, m, multiplied by the cross-sectional area, a.

For more information, see Topic “Mass Source” (page 334) in Chapter “Load Pat-
terns”.

Prestress Load
Each Tendon produces a set of self-equilibrating forces and moments that act on the
rest of the structure. You may assign different Prestress loading in different Load
Patterns.

In a given Load Pattern, the Prestress Load for any Tendon is defined by the follow-
ing parameters:

• Tension in the Tendon, before losses.

• Jacking location, either end I or end J, where the tensioning of the Tendon will
occur
• Curvature coefficient. This specifies the fraction of tension loss (due to fric-
tion) per unit of angle change (in radians) along the length of the Tendon,
measured from the jacking end.
• Wobble coefficient. This specifies the fraction of tension loss (due to friction)
per unit of Tendon length, measured from the jacking end, due to imperfect
straightness of the tendon.
• Anchorage set slip. This specifies the length of slippage at the jacking end of
the Tendon due to the release of the jacking mechanism.

The following additional load parameters may be specified that only apply when
the Tendon is modeled as loads:

• Elastic shortening stress, due to compressive shortening in the elements that

are loaded by the Tendon. This may be due to loads from the Tendon itself or
from other loads acting on the structure.

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 Chapter XVI The Tendon Object

• Creep stress, due to compressive creep strains in the elements that are loaded
by the Tendon.
• Shrinkage stress, due to compressive shrinkage strains in the elements that are
loaded by the Tendon.
• Steel relaxation stress, due to tensile relaxation strains in the Tendon itself.

For Tendons modeled as elements, the elastic shortening stress is automatically ac-
counted for in all analyses; the time-dependent creep, shrinkage, and relaxation
stresses can be accounted for by performing a time-dependent staged-construction
analysis. See Topic “Staged Construction” (page 442) in Chapter “Nonlinear Static
Analysis” for more information.

The tension and all of the loss effects are converted to an equivalent set of distrib-
uted and concentrated forces acting along the length of the Tendon. These can be
displayed and tabulated in the graphical user interface. They are applied to the
model as follows:

• For Tendons modeled as loads, these forces are transferred to the joints of the
bounding elements as described earlier in this chapter under Topic “Connectiv-
ity”
• For Tendons modeled as elements, the tension at each end of a discretized ten-
don element is converted to an equivalent strain load, -P/(a × e1), where P is the
local tension after losses, and may vary along the length.

To account for complicated jacking procedures, you can specify different prestress
loads in different Load Patterns and apply them as appropriate.

Self-Weight Load
Self-Weight Load activates the self-weight of all elements in the model. For a
Tendon object, the self-weight is a force that is distributed along the length of the
element. The magnitude of the self-weight is equal to the weight density, w, multi-
plied by the cross-sectional area, a.

Self-Weight Load always acts downward, in the global –Z direction. You may
scale the self-weight by a single scale factor that applies equally to all elements in
the structure.

For more information:

• See Topic “Weight Density” (page 78) in Chapter “Material Properties” for the
definition of w.

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• See Topic “Section Properties” (page 314) in this Chapter for the definition of
a.
• See Topic “Self-Weight Load” (page 325) in Chapter “Load Patterns.”

Gravity Load
Gravity Load can be applied to each Tendon to activate the self-weight of the
object. Using Gravity Load, the self-weight can be scaled and applied in any direc-
tion. Different scale factors and directions can be applied to each element.

If all elements are to be loaded equally and in the downward direction, it is more
convenient to use Self-Weight Load.

For more information:

• See Topic “Self-Weight Load” (page 134) in this Chapter for the definition of
self-weight for the Frame element.
• See Topic “Gravity Load” (page 326) in Chapter “Load Patterns.”

Temperature Load
Temperature Load creates thermal strain in the Tendon object. This strain is given
by the product of the Material coefficient of thermal expansion and the temperature
change of the object. All specified Temperature Loads represent a change in tem-
perature from the unstressed state for a linear analysis, or from the previous temper-
ature in a nonlinear analysis.

For any Load Pattern, you may specify a Load Temperature field that is constant
over the cross section and produces axial strains. This temperature field may be
constant along the element length or interpolated from values given at the joints.

See Chapter “Load Patterns” (page 321) for more information.

Strain Load
Axial strain load represents a change in length per unit length. Positive strain in-
creases the length of an unrestrained element, or causes compression in a restrained
element. Strain and temperature load act similarly, differing only by a scale factor,
namely the coefficient of thermal expansion.

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Strain loads may be constant along the element length or linearly interpolated from
values given at the joints by a Joint Pattern.

For more information, see Topic “Internal Force Output” (page 144) in this chapter,
and also Chapter “Load Patterns” (page 321.)

Deformation Load
While Strain Load specifies a change in deformation per unit length, Deformation
Load specifies the total deformation between the two ends of an unrestrained ele-
ment. Deformation Load is internally converted to Strain Load, so you should
choose whichever type of loading is most conveniently specified for your particular
application. The specified axial deformation is converted to axial Strain Load by
simply dividing by the element length. The computed strain loads are assumed to
be constant along the length of the element.

See Chapter “Load Patterns” (page 321) for more information.

Target-Force Load
Target-Force Load is a special type of loading where you specify a desired axial
force, and deformation load is iteratively applied to achieve the target force. Since
the axial force may vary along the length of the element, you must also specify the
relative location where the desired force is to occur. Target-Force loading is only
used for nonlinear static and staged-construction analysis. If applied in any other
type of Load Case, it has no effect.

Unlike all other types of loading, target-force loading is not incremental. Rather,
you are specifying the total force that you want to be present in the frame element at
the end of the Load Case or construction stage. The applied deformation that is cal-
culated to achieve that force may be positive, negative, or zero, depending on the
force present in the element at the beginning of the analysis. When a scale factor is
applied to a Load Pattern that contains Target-Force loads, the total target force is
scaled. The increment of applied deformation that is required may change by a dif-
ferent scale factor.

See Topic “Target-Force Load” (page 331) in Chapter “Load Patterns” and Topic
“Target-Force Iteration” (page 451) in Chapter “Nonlinear Static Analysis” for
more information.

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Internal Force Output

The Tendon internal forces are the axial forces, P, that result from integrating the
axial stresses over the object cross section. These internal forces are present at ev-
ery cross section along the length of the Tendon, and may be plotted or tabulated as
part of the analysis results. As is always true in SAP2000, tension is positive.

Important! Internal force output is only available for Tendons that are modeled as
elements.

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 Chapter XVII Load Patterns

Concentrated Span Load

Concentrated Span Load applies concentrated forces and moments at arbitrary lo-
cations on Frame elements. You may specify components ux, uy, uz, rx, ry, and rz
in any fixed coordinate system csys, and components u1, u2, u3, r1, r2, and r3 in
the Frame element local coordinate system. Force values are additive after being
converted to the Frame element local coordinate system.

See Topic “Concentrated Span Load” (page 135) in Chapter “The Frame Element”
for more information.

Distributed Span Load

Distributed Span Load applies distributed forces and moments at arbitrary loca-
tions on Frame and Cable elements. You may specify components ux, uy, uz, rx,
ry, and rz in any fixed coordinate system csys, and components u1, u2, u3, r1, r2,
and r3 in the Frame element local coordinate system. Force values are additive after
being converted to the Frame element local coordinate system.

For more information, See Topic “Distributed Span Load” (page 137) in Chapter
“The Frame Element”, and Topic “Distributed Span Load” (page 173) in Chapter
“The Cable Element”

Tendon Prestress Load

Tendons are a special type of object that can be embedded inside other objects
(frames, shells, planes, asolids, and solids) to represent the effect of prestressing
and post-tensioning. These tendons attach to the other objects and impose load
upon them.

You may specify whether the tendons are to be modeled as independent elements in
the analysis, or just to act upon the rest of the structure as loads. This affects the
types of loads that are directly imposed upon the structure.

See Topic “Prestress Load” (page 316) in Chapter “The Tendon Object” for more
information.

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