Prestress Basic
Prestress Basic
Basic Concept
A prestressed concrete structure is different from a conventional reinforced
concrete structure due to the application of an initial load on the
structure prior to its use.
Wooden
Staves
Wooden stave as a free body
Tensile
Metal prestress
bands
Radial
A wooden Barrel Pressure
Half of metal band as a free body
Wires
Prestressing wire is a single unit made of steel.
Strands
Two, three or seven wires are wound to form a prestressing strand.
Tendon
A group of strands or wires are wound to form a prestressing tendon.
Cable
A group of tendons
Bars
A tendon can be made up of a single steel bar. The diameter of a bar is much
larger than that of a wire.
Advantages of Prestressing
The prestressing of concrete has several advantages as compared to traditional
reinforced concrete (RC) without prestressing.
A fully prestressed concrete member is usually subjected to compression
during service life.
This rectifies several deficiencies of concrete.
1) Section remains uncracked under service loads
Reduction of steel corrosion
Increase in durability.
Full section is utilized
Higher moment of inertia (higher stiffness)
Less deformations (improved serviceability).
Increase in shear capacity.
Suitable for use in pressure vessels, liquid retaining structures.
Improved performance (resilience) under dynamic and fatigue loading.
2) High span-to-depth ratios
Larger spans possible with prestressing (bridges, buildings with large column-
free spaces)
Typical values of span-to-depth ratios in slabs are given below.
Non-prestressed slab 28:1
Prestressed slab 45:1
For the same span, less depth compared to RC member.
Reduction in self weight
More aesthetic appeal due to slender sections
More economical sections.
3) Suitable for precast construction. The advantages of precast
construction are as follows.
Rapid construction
Better quality control
Reduced maintenance
Suitable for repetitive construction
Multiple use of formwork
Reduction of formwork
Availability of standard shapes.
addressed.
Pre - tensioning
A method of prestressing concrete in which the tendons are tensioned before
the concrete is placed.
In this method, the prestress is imparted to concrete by bond between steel
and concrete.
Post – tensioning
A method of prestressing concrete by tensioning the tendons against hardened
concrete.
In this method, the prestress is imparted to concrete by bearing.
Pre-tensioning
The tension is applied to the tendons before casting of the concrete.
The pre-compression is transmitted from steel to concrete through bond
over the transmission length near the ends.
The following figure shows manufactured pre-tensioned electric poles.
Relaxation in steel
Decrease of stress in steel at constant strain
Proof stress
The tensile stress in steel which produces a residual strain of 0.2 percent of
Degree of prestressing
A measure of the magnitude of the prestressing force related to the resultant
tensioned work and from 0.51 to 0.44 fci for pre-tensioned work
depending on the strength of concrete. (fci Compressive strength of
concrete at initial transfer of prestress )
At transfer, there is no tensile stress
At service load, the compressive stress varies linearly from 0.41 to 0.35
bar anchorage system, work on this principle where the wires are looped
around the concrete.
The wires are looped to make a bulb.
post-tensioned slab.
Grouting equipment
Manufacturing of Post-tensioned Bridge Girders
The following photographs show some steps in the manufacturing of a
post-tensioned I-girder for a bridge.
The first photo shows the fabricated steel reinforcement with the ducts
for the tendons placed inside.
Note the parabolic profiles of the duct for the simply supported girder.
After the concrete is cast and cured to gain sufficient strength, the tendons are
passed through the ducts, as shown in the second photo.
The tendons are anchored at one end and stretched at the other end by a
hydraulic jack. This can be observed from the third photo.
The following photos show the construction of post-tensioned box girders
for a bridge.
The photograph shows the fabricated steel reinforcement with the ducts
for the tendons placed inside.
The top flange will be constructed later.
The photo below shows the formwork in the pre-casting yard.
The formwork for the inner sides of the webs and the flanges is yet to be
placed.
In this photo a girder is being post-tensioned after adequate curing.
This photograph shows a crane on a barge that transports a girder to the bridge
site.
The completed bridge can be seen in the last photo.
Analysis of Prestress and Bending Stresses
Basic Assumptions
The analysis of stresses developed in a prestressed concrete structural
element is based on the following assumptions:
Concrete is a homogeneous elastic material
Within the range of working stresses, both concrete and steel behave
elastically, notwithstanding the small amount of creep which occurs
in both the materials under sustained loading, and
A plane section before bending is assumed to remain plane even
after bending, which implies a linear strain distribution across the
depth of the member.
Analysis of prestress
The stresses due to prestressing alone are generally combined stresses due
to the action of direct load and bending resulting from an eccentrically
applied load.
The stresses in concrete are evaluated by using the well known
relationship for combined stresses used in the case of columns.
Stages of Loading
The analysis of prestressed members can be different for the
different stages of loading. The stages of loading are as follows.
1) Initial : It can be subdivided into two stages.
a) During tensioning of steel
b) At transfer of prestress to concrete.
2) Final : It can be subdivided into two stages.
a) At service, during operation.
b)At ultimate, during extreme events.
The following notations and sign conventions are used for the analysis of
prestress:
P = Prestressing force
e = eccentricity of prestressing force
M = P . e = Moment
A = cross-sectional area of the concrete member
I = second moment of area of section about its centroid.
Zt and Zb = section modulus of the top and bottom fibres
fsup and finf = prestress in concrete developed at the top and bottom
fibres (positive when compressive and negative when tensile in
nature)
yt and yb = distance of the top and bottom fibres from the centroid of the
section
i = radius of gyration
Concentric Tendon
Consider a concrete beam with a concentric tendon as shown in the figure
P P
Stress = P/A
The shift of pressure line e measured from the centroidal axis is obtained as
The resultant stresses at the top and bottom fibres of the section are expresses
as
Concept of Load Balancing
It is possible to select suitable cable profiles in a prestressed concrete
member such that the transverse component of the cable force balances
the given type of external loads.
This can be readily illustrated by considering the free-body of concrete,
with the tendon replaced by forces acting on the concrete beam as shown
in the figure and table below.
The various types of reactions of a cable upon a concrete member depend
upon the shape of the cable profile.
Straight portions of the cable do not induce any reactions except at the
ends, while curved cables result in uniformly distributed loads.
Sharp angles in a cable induce concentrated loads.
The concept of loading – balancing is useful in selecting the tendon profile,
which can supply the most desirable system of forces in concrete.
In general, this requirement will be satisfied if the cable profile in a
prestressed member corresponds to the shape of the bending moment
diagram resulting from the external loads.
Thus, if the beam supports two concentrated loads, the cable should follow
a trapezoidal profile.
If the beam supports uniformly distributed loads, the corresponding tendon
should follow a parabolic profile.