PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
Module 1
BASIC CONCEPTS OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
Prestressed Concrete – is a structural concrete in which internal stresses have been introduced to reduce potential
tensile stresses in concrete due to imposed loads.
Advantages of Prestressed Concrete:
1. Prestressed concrete offers great technical advantage in comparison with other forms of construction such as
reinforced concrete and steel.
2. Prestressed concrete members possess improved resistance to shearing force due to the effect of compressive
prestress, which reduces the principal tensile stress.
3. A prestressed flexural member is stiffer under working loads than a reinforced concrete member of the same
depth.
4. The use of high strength concrete and steel in prestressed members result in lighter and slender members than
reinforced concrete.
5. The economy in prestressed concrete is well-established for long span structures.
6. Prestressed concrete has considerable resilience due to its capacity for completely recovering from substantial
effects of overloading without any serious damage.
Applications of Prestressed Concrete
Structural elements such as:
1. slabs
2. Girder/beams
3. Columns
4. Roofs
Structures such as
1. bridges
2. towers
3. buildings
4. skyways
5. tanks
Slabs
Girders
Roof
Methods of Prestressing:
1. Pre tensioning – tendons are tensioned before concrete is placed.
2. Post tensioning – tendons are tensioned after concrete has hardened. This can be applied to members either
pre cast or cast in place.
Tendons – is a prestressing steel used in pre tensioned applications. In post tension applications, the tendon is a
complete assembly consisting of anchorages, pretressing steel, and sheating with coating for unbonded applications or
ducts with grout for bonded application.
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Types of Tendons:
1. Bonded tendons – bonded throughout their length to the surrounding concrete. Non end-anchored tendons are
necessarily bonded ones. End-anchored tendons maybe either bonded or unbonded to the concrete.The prestressing
tendons is bonded to concrete directly or through grouting.
2. Unbonded tendons – the prestressing steel is prevented from bonding to the concrete and is free to move
relative to the concrete.The prestressing force is permanently transferred to the concrete at the tendon ends by
anchorage only.
Common Methods of Stressing the Tendons
For both pre tensioning and post tensioning the tendons are stress by jacking. In post tensioning, jacks are used to
pull the steel with the reaction acting against the hardened concrete. In pre tensioning, jacks pull the steel with the
reaction against the end bulkheads. Hydraulic jacks are used because of their high capacity to apply pressure.
Hydraulic Jack
Loss of Prestress
To determine the effective prestress, allowance for the following sources of loss of prestress shall be considered:
1. Tendon seating at transfer
2. Elastic shortening of concrete
3. Creep of Concrete
4. Shrinkage of concrete
5. Relaxation of tendon stress
6. Friction losses due to the intended or unintended curvature in post tensioning tendons.
References:
1. Besavilla, V. (2013). Fundamentals of Reinforced Concrete Vol. 3, Cebu City Philippines: VIB Publisher
2. Raju, K. (2007). Prestressed Concrete 4th edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited
Websites:
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7.https://www.google.com/search?
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