Prestressed Concrete Definition

A creation of internal stresses in a structure in order to improve its performance. Such

stresses are designed to counter-act stresses induced by external loads. Concrete is
strong and ductile in compression, it is weak and brittle in tension, and hence its
response to external loads is improved by pre-compression. Prestressed concrete is a
type of Reinforced Concrete in which steel has been tensioned against the concrete.

Advantages of Prestressed Concrete

Followings are the advantages of prestressed concrete:

● Longer span length increases untroubled floor space and parking facilities.
● Thinner slabs, those are important for high rise building as with the same amount of
cost, it can construct more slabs than traditional thicker slabs.
● As the span length is larger, fewer joints are needed than traditional RC structures.
● Because of fewer joints, maintenance cost also becomes reduced during the design
life as joints are the major locus of weakness in a concrete building.
● Long-term Durability.
● Better finishing of placed concrete.
● It requires a smaller amount of construction materials.
● It resists stresses are higher than normal RCC structures and is free from cracks.

Disadvantages of Prestressed Concrete

Followings are the disadvantages of prestressed concrete:

● It requires high strength concrete and high tensile strength steel wires.
● The main disadvantage is construction requires additional special equipment like
jacks, anchorage etc.
● It requires highly skilled workers under skilled supervision.
● Construction cost is little higher than RCC structures.

Prestressing Methods
Pre-Tensioning and Post-Tensioning in Prestressed Concrete Design
Pre-Tensioning in Prestressed Concrete
Pre-tensioning is accomplished by stressing wires or strands, called tendons, to
predetermined amount by stretching them between two anchorages prior to placing
concrete as shown in fig.1. The concrete is then placed and tendons become bonded to
concrete throughout their length.
After concrete has hardened, the tendons are released by cutting them at the anchorages.
The tendons tend to regain their original length by shortening and in this process transfer
through bond a compressive stress to the concrete.

The tendons are usually stressed by the use of hydraulic jacks. The stress in tendons is
maintained during the placing and curing of concrete by anchoring the ends of the
tendons to abutments that may be as much as 200m apart. The abutments and other
formwork used in this procedure are called prestressing bench or bed.

Fig.1: Section for Pre-tensioning

Most of the pre-tensioning construction techniques are patented although the basic
principle used in all of them is common and is well known.

Post-Tensioning in Prestressed Concrete

The alternative to pre-tensioning is post-tensioning. In a post-tensioned beam, the
tendons are stressed and each end is anchored to the concrete section after the concrete
has been cast and has attained sufficient strength to safely withstand the prestressing
force as shown in fig.2.

In post-tensioning method, tendons are coated with grease or a bituminous material to

prevent them from becoming bonded to concrete. Another method used in preventing the
tendons from bonding to the concrete during placing and curing of concrete is to encase
the tendon in a flexible metal hose before placing it in the forms. The metal hose is
referred to as sheath or duct and remains in the structure.
 Fig.2: Section for Post-tensioning
After the tendon has been stressed, the void between the tendon and the sheath is filled
with grout. Thus the tendons become bonded to concrete and corrosion of steel is
prevented.

Post-tension prestressing can be done at site. This procedure may become necessary or
desirable in certain cases. For heavy loads and large spans in buildings or bridges, it may
be very difficult to transport a member from precasting plant to a job site. On the other
hand, pre-tensioning can be used in precast as well as in cast-in-place construction.

In post-tensioning it is necessary to use some types of device to attach or anchor the ends
of the tendons to the concrete section. These devices are usually referred to as end
anchorages. There are a large number of patents for different types of anchorages. They
may also differ n the details of construction

Some of the popular methods of post-tensioning in prestressed concrete are:

1. Freyssinet system
2. Magnel system

3. Leonhardt system

4. Lee-McCall system

5. Gifford-Udall system

The Magnel Blaton system

In this system a cable of rectangular section is provided, which contains layers of wires 5
mm to 8 mm diameter. The wires are arranged with four wires per layer (up to sixteen
layers deep for a cable of sixty four wires). The wires in the same layer and the wires in
adjacent layers are separated with a clearance of 4 mm. the geometric pattern of the wires
is maintained in the same form throughout the length of the cable by providing grills or
spacers at regular intervals. The grills do not offer any appreciable frictional resistance to
the wires which can be moved relative to each other during the tensioning process.

Gifford Udall System

This is earliest method in this method the wires are stressed and anchored one by one in
separate cylinder using small wedging grips called Udall grips. Each grip consists of two
half cones. The bearing plate bears against a thrust ring which is cast into the concrete.
The duct end is encircled by a helix. Anchorages are supplied to suit the cables of 2, 4, 6
and 12 wires.