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Chapter 1
PRINCIPLE AND METHODS OF PRESTRESSING
General:
Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete in which internal stresses are introduced by
means of high strength pre-strained reinforcement. Prestressing relies on bond and/or bearing
mechanisms to achieve stress transfer to concrete.

Prestressing forces induce internal actions of certain magnitude and distribution to

counteract the external loading.

In prestressed concrete members, steel is in tension and concrete is in compression, even

before the application of any external loading.

In 1928 E. Freyssinet of France started Modern Development of prestressed concrete.

Reasons for Prestressing:

Prestressed concrete has been developed to overcome some of the limitations of reinforced
concrete, namely:
1) In flexure of reinforced concrete member, concrete is cracked and functions only to hold the
reinforcing bars in place and protect them from corrosion, thereby giving excess weight
without structural action.
2) Deflection of a member is inversely proportional to the moment of inertia of its section –
cracking lowers the moment of inertia of the section, thereby increasing deflection.
4) Eliminate cracking at service loading conditions
5) Improve shear and torsion strengths
6) Add protection to the steel
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METHODS OF PRESTRESSING

Pretensioning Post-tensioning Other methods

Prestressing is applied to concrete by means of high-strength tendons (usually steel) in
tension, passing through the concrete. This can be achieved in one of two ways, namely
pretensioning and post-tensioning, the main distinction between the two methods being
whether the steel is tensioned before or after the concrete is cast, hence the terms “pre” and
“post”.
(1) Pretensioning: Steel tensioned before casting concrete
In pretensioning the prestressing tendons (wires, strands) are stretched to a predetermined
tension and anchored to fixed bulkheads or molds. The concrete is poured around the tendons,
cured, and upon hardening the tendons are released. As the bond between the tendons and the
concrete resists the shortening of the tendons, the concrete is compressed.
Pretensioning is the method most often used for the production of precast prestressed
concrete elements, because it offers great potential for mechanization.
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(2) Post-tensioning:

In post-tensioning the tendons are stressed and anchored at the ends of the concrete member
after the member has been cast and attained sufficient strength.
Commonly, a mortar-tight metal pipe or duct (also called sheath) is placed along the
member before concrete casting. The tendons could be preplaced loose inside the sheath prior
to casting or could be placed after hardening of concrete. After the concrete has attained the
required strength the tendons are stressed using prestressing jacks at the ends of the concrete
member (from one or both ends simultaneously) and anchored.
After stressing and anchoring, the void between each tendon and its duct is filled with a
mortar grout which subsequently hardens. Grouting ensures bonding of the tendon to the
surrounding concrete, improves the resistance of the member to cracking and reduces the risks
of corrosion for the steel tendons.
Wires
Tendons are made of Strands (individual or group)
Bars (tensioned one at a time)

Bonded tendons:
Use grout as explained above.

Unbonded tendons:
Use grease or bituminous material instead of grout, or put outside the RC section. This
technique is widely used in slab systems of residential and parking structures with several bays
(up to 10 bays), because of its efficiency an economy.
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Post-tensioning sequence Post-tensioning jacking

Post-tensioning is primarily an in situ operation - used in large projects such as continuous long
span bridges.
- Cast a duct, containing the desired number of strands, in the concrete at location where
prestressing steel is required
- Use metal sheath to form a duct or alternatively use a plastic duct since steel tends to corrode
- Locate duct in formwork by attaching to stirrups and longitudinal nonprestressed
reinforcement
- It is important to ensure that the duct is properly secured to avoid shifting in position during
casting of concrete
- Duct should be watertight to avoid leakage of wet concrete into the duct and plugging it
- After concrete attains required strength anchor tendon at one end using a mechanical anchor
- At other end of tendon attach a prestressing jack to the tendon, tension it and then anchor it

Pretensioning > Factory operation - precast industry

Post-tensioning > Insitu construction mainly
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To avoid tension, it is necessary to reduce the eccentricity so that the centroid of the
prestressing steel at the end of the beam is within the middle third for a rectangular section.
This is achieved by using harped or blanketed strands in pretensioned beams, and draped
tendons in post-tensioned beams to maintain emax at mid-span, while having a smaller
eccentricity at the ends.

Pretensioned Post-tensioned
(Harped Strands) Drapped tendons

Hold-down points provided in Parabolic tendon profile is common

stressing bed-location and hold-down since B.M.D. for UDL is parabolic
force found at design stage (other profiles for other types of loading)

Pretensioned
(Blanketed Strands)

Note the staggered debonding

Strands are debonded by covering

them with plastic tubing

Examples of hold-down systems used by harp strands

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In post-tensioning we use a small number of large tendons as opposed to a large number

of individual strands in pretensioning.
Reasons for this are:
1. In pretensioning we rely on bond between concrete and steel, and thus we wish to
maximize bond surface, whereas in post-tensioning where we rely on mechanical
anchorage at end of a tendon bond is not an issue
2. Fewer larger tendons results in less labour, and thus less cost, in terms of the stressing
operation

In post-tensioned concrete, steel tendons are usually grouted after anchoring to prevent
corrosion. The prestressing steel is under a relatively high level of stress and is susceptible
to stress corrosion.
Cement (or epoxy) grout > bonded member
Grease (or no grout) > unbonded member
Grout is pumped into duct under pressure to ensure that duct is completely filled with grout.
The behaviour of bonded and unbonded members is the same as long as concrete is not
cracked - once cracking occurs there is a distinct difference in behaviour.

(3) Other method of Prestressing

a. Thermal prestressing by application of electirc heat. Electric and mechanical combination

has been also used in USSR.
b. Prebending high strength steel beam and encasing its tensile flange in concrete.

Releasing the bending will place the concrete under compression.

c. Chemical prestressing by means of expansive cement which expand chemically after setting
and during hardening started in France 1940 and known as self stressing.
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OTHER PRESTRESSING TECHNIQUES

External prestressing:

(a)

(b)

Circular prestressing:
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Stage prestressing:

Stage prestressing refers to the application of the prestressing force in stages. This is often
done to avoid overstressing the concrete in its early stage or when dead loads are applied in
stages and their effect must be counteracted in steps. Stage stressing is generally achieved by
fully stressing part of the tendons at each stage.

Prestress losses:
Depends on:
 Methods of prestressing
 Location
 Time

1- Friction losses
2- Anchorage slip losses
3- Elastic shortening of concrete
4- Relaxation of prestressing tendons
5- Creep of concrete
6- Shrinkage of concrete
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Mechanism of resisting external moments: RC vs. PC

Reinforced Concrete:

jd is almost constant under increasing load

T & C increase proportionally to the applied load

Prestressed Concrete:

C
a1

No Load Dead Load Dead + Live Loads

M D = T . a1 M D+L = T . a2
= C . a1 = C . a2
Internal lever arm “a” increases under increasing the applied load.
T & C remain virtually constant under working loading conditions.

Simple illustration of the advantages of prestressing:

Plain Concrete:
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Reinforced Concrete:
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BASIC CONCEPTS FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

Force-in-tendon concept Internal couple concept Equivalent load concept

(i) Force-in-tendon Loading Concept:

Prestressed beam is assumed to be homogenous and elastic.

Consider a rectangular section simply supported beam having a self weight (s.w.) of w per unit
length:
(a) No Prestress
C.L.

h/2 c.g.c
h/2
b
l/2 l/2
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(b) Eccentric Prestress + Self Weight

e = eccentricity measured from centroidal axis

P P
fa   
A bh

h 12 6 Pe
f b  Pe 
2 bh 3 bh 2

Depending on the relative magnitudes of fa, fb and fd, the following five resultant stress
diagrams may be obtained:

P
fa   is dependent only on P for a given cross section
bh
6 Pe
fb   is dependent on P and e for a given cross section
bh 2
Any of the above stress conditions can be achieved by a suitable choice of P .
Condition ④ or ⑤ would be preferred for a section in a beam where, at the bottom extreme
fibre, compression is induced by prestress and tension by gravity loading.
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(c) Eccentric Prestress + Self Weight + Live Load

Different stress conditions may exist at different loading stages in the life of a prestressed
beam.
In the design of a prestressed concrete member, proportion of the member and the degree of
prestressing should be designed to be within the permissible compressive and tensile stresses in
the concrete at any stage of loading. (or else it will be a “partially prestressed” member)
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Loading Stages in a Prestressed Concrete Beam

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(ii) Internal Couple Concept:

Consider a simply-supported beam prestressed with a draped tendon.

A C.L. C-line
Location of concrete
e' c.g.c force for a given
e load level
c.g.s
A

Consider a section A-A

1. Zero Load: (self weight neglected) - hypothetical

2. Loaded Condition: (including self weight)

lever arm = e + e' =M/P

For an uncracked prestressed concrete section, increasing the applied moment increases the
level arm (e + e') rather than increasing the compression forces acting on the section.
(calculation of the change of steel force will be discussed later.)

The location of the C force at any section along the beam under any load condition can be
described by the C-line as shown.

Further, concept of Internal Couple is useful in design, since it gives us some idea as to the
eccentricity that can be given to the prestressing force once the cross section has been selected.
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Consider a simply- supported beam with rectangular section.

a) At Transfer
when we apply PS force to beam - C force is below centroidal axis

Since ƒB = 2P/A ==> Knowing A, compute P to ensure ƒB ≤ permissible compression

Further, for zero stress in top fibre ==> e' = h/6 (for rectangular section) (Note that for other
cross-sections e' ≠ h/6), hence, find e from equation (1).

b) Under Applied Load

Load bends beam downwards - assume no tension in bottom fibre

A further value of e can be computed from equation (2) in a similar manner to above (case a).

Usually, a beam will not be fully stressed under both conditions and hence the two values of e
will be different.
Limiting zone for eccentricity of prestress can be established along length of the beam by
calculating e at various sections for the beam under self weight and specified loads.
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(iii) Equivalent Load Concepts (Load-balancing)

Consider a simply supported beam prestressed with a draped tendon, the profile of which will
be assumed parabolic.

Equation of tendon profile (e +ve below cgc)

Now, at any section moment on concrete due to prestressing alone is given by

Hence, the parabolic profile gives an effective uniformly distributed load on the concrete over
the length of the tendon. Negative sign indicates that the load is acting upwards on concrete as
shown. This is referred to as “equivalent loading” (we).
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Concrete free body diagram:

Note, that the sum of both the vertical forces and the horizontal forces is zero since the beam
must be in equilibrium under action of prestress.

The effective load, wnet acting on the concrete is the applied load, w (including self weight) less
the upward equivalent load (we).

i.e. wnet = w – we

The effect of prestress and applied load on concrete may be simulated as follows:

At any section we have P and Mnet (shear effect ignored) and thus stress is given by:
P M net y
f  
A I
The equivalent load concept shows that the effect of prestressing with a parabolic draped
tendon (concave upwards) is to apply an upward uniformly distributed loading on the concrete,
which of course counteracts to some degree any downward externally applied loading. This is
the basis of the so called load balancing method of design, where the prestressing is
proportioned to balance a desired portion of the applied loading. The portion of loading to be
balanced is decided from past experience.

Load balancing method of design was first proposed by T.Y. Lin.

Equivalent loads may be used to input the effect of prestress in the form of loads into
computer programs for analysis of statically indeterminate prestressed concrete structures.
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Equivalent Loads (see also CPCI Handbook Fig. 8.1.4. p. 8-14)

Use constant profile to resist uniform moment.

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Example: Determine the concrete stress at the top and bottom fibers of the shown beam

(1) Force-in-tendon load concept:

P P.ey M e y
f   
A I I

P=1800 kN A=300*800=24x104 mm2 e=400-150=250mm

300(800) 3
I  1.28x1010 mm 4 y=400mm2
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88.5(8.5) 2
Me   800kNm
8

+ + =

1800 *103 (1800 *103 * 250)(400) (800 *106 )(400)

f   
24 *104 1.28 *1010 1.28 *1010
f  7.5  14.06  25

top f = –7.5 + 14.06 – 25 = –18.44 MPa

bottom f = –7.5 –14.06 + 25 = +3.44 MPa
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(2) Internal couple concept:

C
a
T

Shift of C from T = M/C

800 * 10 6
a  444mm
1800 * 10 3

eccentricity of the resultant compression force C acting on the section

ec = 444 – 250 = 194 mm

P (Ce c ) y
f  
A I

1800 *103 (1800 *103 *194)(400)

f  
24 *104 1.28 *1010

f  7.5  10.94
top f = –7.5 – 10.94 = –18.44 MPa
bottom f = –7.5 + 10.94 = +3.44 MPa
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(3) Balanced load concept:

8P.e
Equivalent load 
l2

8(1800 * 10 3 )250

(8500) 2

= 49.8 kN/m

Unbalanced load = 88.5 – 49.8 = 38.7 kN/m

(38.7)(8500) 2
M   350kN.m
8

P M.y 1800 * 10 3 (350 * 10 6 )(400)

f      7.5  10.94
A I 24 * 10 4 1.28 * 1010

+ =

top f = –7.5 – 10.94 = –18.44 MPa

bottom f = –7.5 + 10.94 = +3.44 MPa
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Example: Determine the concrete stress at the top and bottom fibers at the support
location of the shown cantilever.

(1) Force-in-tendon load concept:

F=150 KN

P=1800 KN

e=300
800

L=5.00 m
300
P P.ey M e y
f   
A I I

P=1800 kN A=300*800=24×104 mm2 e=300 mm

300(800) 3
I  1.28x1010 mm 4 y=400mm2
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M e  150  5  750kNm

1800 *103 (1800 *103 * 300)(400) (750 *106 )(400)

f   
24 *104 1.28 *1010 1.28 *1010
f  7.5  16.875  23.438

+ + =

Top f = –7.5–16.875 +23.438 = –0.937 MPa

Bottom f = –7.5 +16.875–23.438= –14.068 MPa
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(2) Internal couple concept:

Shift of C from T = M/C e=300 T

a
750 *10 6
a
1800 *10 3
 416.667( mm) C
Eccentricity of the resultant compression force C acting on the section

ec = 416.667 – 300 = 116.667 mm

P (Cec ) y
f  
A I

+ =

1800 *103 (1800 *103 *116.667)(400)

f  
24 *10 4 1.28 *1010

f  7.5  6.563

Top f = –7.5 +6.563 = –0.937 MPa

Bottom f = –7.5 – 6.563 = –14.063 MPa
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(3) Balanced load concept:

Pe 1800  300
Equivalent load    108( KN )
L 5000

Unbalanced load = 150 – 108 = 42 (KN)

M  42  5  210(kN .m)

+ =

P M . y 1800 *10 3 (210 *10 6 )(400)

f    
A I 24 *10 4 1.28 *1010
f  7.5  6.563

Top f = –7.5 +6.563 = –0.937 MPa

Bottom f = –7.5 – 6.563 = –14.063 MPa