DETAILING FOR P O S T- T E N S I O N I N G
elastic methods. Designers were guided by a
few general solutions which would be modified
with judgement to suit the specific situations.
With the development of computers in the
1960's and 1970's, analysis became overly,
perhaps even absurdly detailed. There was little
if any improvement in the actual structures
inspite of the substantially increased analytical
effort. Blunders occasionally occurred because,
as the analysis became more complex, it was
easier to make mistakes and harder to find
them. More recently there was a realization that
prestressed concrete was just one part of the
continuous spectrum of structural concrete
which goes from unreinforced concrete, to
reinforced concrete, to partially prestressed
concrete to fully
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6 4
Item
1. Transverse post-tensioning anchorage.
2 Vertical web post-tensioning anchorage.
3. Anchorage blisters for longitudinal tendons.
4. Curved tendon.
5. Interior anchorages.
6. Overlapping interior anchorages.
Figure 1.2 Special stress situations must be recognized and provided whith appropriate
detailing
prestressed concrete. It was realized that even
prestressed concrete cracks. If it did not crack,
there certainly would be no need for other
reinforcement. Codes moved ahead, but
designers lacked guidance. Fortunately the
principles of strut-and-tie analysis and design
were "rediscovered" in the 1980's. Rather than
being a mere analyst, with these methods, the
designer can, within limits, tell the structure
what to do. We as designers should be guided
by elasticity (as in the past), but we need not be
bound to it.
It is from this historical setting that we are
attempting to provide designers with guidance
on the detailing of posttensioned structures.
5 2
3 While symbols are defined at their first
5 occurrence, a few special symbols are worth
Important Considerations
Use appropriate edge distances and
reinforcement to control delamination cracks.
Take advantage of confinement provided by
surrounding concrete to minimize reinforcement
and interference problems.
Consider the local forces produced by curving the
tendon.
Consider forces produced in and out of the plane
of curvature.
Consider potential cracking behind anchorages
not located at the end of a member.
Consider the increased potential for diagonal
cracking.
1.3 Organization of the
Report
Chapter 2 of this report presents the general
engineering principles used throughout the rest
of the document. This is followed by a chapter
on several specific VSL anchorages. Chapter 4
deals with general anchorage zone design and
items related to tendon curvature. This is
followed by real world design examples to
illustrate the concepts in detail.
The report is basically code independent.
Through an understanding of the basic
engineering principles the reader should be
able to readily interpret them within the context
of any specific design code. S.I. units are used
throughout. All figures are drawn to scale so
that even when dimensions are omitted the
reader will still have a feeling for correct
proportions. When forces are given on
strut-and-tie diagrams they are expressed as a
fraction of P, the anchorage force.
mentioning here:
f 'c = the 28 day specified
(characteristic) concrete cylinder
strength.
To convert to cube strengths
one may assume that for a given
concrete the characteristic cube
strength will be 25 % greater
than the cylinder strength.
f 'ci = the concrete cylinder strength at
the time of prestressing. With
early stressing, this will be less
than f 'c.
GUTS =the specified guaranteed
ultimate tensile strength of the
tendon (i.e. the nominal breaking
load).
It should be noted that this document refers
specifically to the VSL "International" system
hardware and anchorage devices. The VSL
system as used in your country may be
somewhat different since it is VSL policy to
adapt to the needs of the local users. Your local
VSL representative should be contacted for
specific details.
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