Experimental investigation on the creep response and thermal expansion of parallel steel wires at elevated temperatures

The thermal expansion at 15 different temperatures and the high temperature creep at multiple stress levels of 1670 MPa parallel steel wires, which are widely used in practical engineering, were experimentally investigated by a charge-coupled device camera (CCDC) system. The tensile strength of the specimens which experienced 2-hour's high temperature creep investigation was measured at the ambient temperature. The curves of thermal expansion strain and high temperature creep strain of the parallel steel wires were obtained. The test results show that the thermal expansion strain of the parallel steel wires increased nonlinearly with the increase of the temperature and the microstructure changed at 750 ℃. Both the heating temperature and the stress level significantly affected the high temperature creep strain. At a higher temperature, the effect of the stress level on the residual tensile strength of the parallel steel wires was more significant. Compared with the 1860 MPa pre-stressed twisted steel wires, the 1670 MPa parallel steel wires had a lower creep strain at a high temperature. Based on the test data, the function of the thermal expansion coefficient of parallel steel wires with respect to the temperature and the high temperature creep model are proposed. The thermal expansion coefficient and the high temperature creep model proposed in this paper can benefit the mechanical response analysis of pre-stressed steel structures at elevated temperatures. © 2021, Engineering Mechanics Press. All right reserved.