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LOSSES OF PRESTRESS IN CONCRETE

INTRODUCTION
In prestressed concrete the most important pararrieter is the prestressing force. If the prestressing
force reduces with time, prestresses also get reduced.
Even at the time of the transfer of prestress to the concrete member, there is a drop of the
prestressing force from the recorded value in the jack gauge. Various reductions of the prestressing
force are termed as the losses in prestress.
A loss of prestress will affect the stress distribution on a section of the member. It is therefore
necessary to estimate the probable loss of prestress that may be incurred in a prestressed member.
Total loss of prestress consists of those losses which are instantaneous at the transfer stage as well
as those which are time dependent.

Types of
Losses

Time
immediate
Dependent

Elastic Anchorage
Friction Creep Shrinkage Relaxation
Shortening Slip

Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to
• understand why losses of prestress occur in prestressed concrete members,
• know various reasons behind such losses of prestress,
• appreciate relative variations of losses of prestress in pre and post-tensioned structural elements,
and

• calculate such losses of prestress.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS DUE TO ELASTIC SHORTENING

At the transfer of prestress, tensile stresses of tendons are transferred to concrete in the form of
compressive stresses. Due to this compression, elastic shortening of leirgth takes place in concrete.
As the length of concrete member gets reduced,; an equal length reduction or struin takes place in
tendons. Consequently, stresses in tendons are lost by a magnitude corresponding to this strain. This
loss of prestress is called as loss due to elastic shortening of concrete.
Let
Concrete stress at the location of center of gravity of prestressing steel due to the prestressing

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force at transfer and the self-weight of the member at the section of maximum moment,
Modulus of elasticity of steel, and
Modulus of elasticity of concrete

Strain in concrete at the level of steel ( )

Stress variation in steel corresponding to this strain ( )

The prestress loss due to elastic shortening in pretensioned members is taken as the product of the
concrete stress at the centroid of the prestressing steel at transfer, , and the ratio of the modulus of
elasticities of the prestressing steel and the concrete at transfer.

So, loss of prestress due to elastic shortening ( )

As modular ratio ( )

So, loss in stress in steel

Loss of prestress due to elastic shortening definitely occurs in pretensioned concrete members. But in
post-tensioned members it does not occur if all the tendons across a cross-section are simultaneously
stretched, anchored and their prestresses transferred to concrete. In this case, jacks which stretch
tendons butt against the ends of members. So the prestressing force which is to be transferred by
tendons in already felt by the concrete member through the jacks. But post-tensioned members are
subjected to this loss of prestress if all the tendons are not simultaneously tensioned. In that case,
every tendon being sketched shall produce a loss of prestress in all the tendons which have already
been tensioned.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS DURING THE TENSIONING PROCESS

DUE TO FRICTION
This loss occurs only in post-tensioned members. There always exists a certain amount of friction in
the jacking and anchoring system and on the walls of the duct. So, the actual stress in the tendon is
less than what is indicated by the pressure gauge.
Considerable frictional loss takes place due to friction between the tendon and the material
surrounding it, namely the concrete or the sheathing. Loss due to friction may be classified as below.
(a) loss due to length effect, and
(b) loss due to curvature effect.

The length effect represents the effect of friction for a straight tendon due to slight imperfections of
the duct. In practice, the duct meant for the straight tendon is not absolutely straight. Hence the cable
will touch the duct or concrete. This loss is also called the loss due to wobbing elect.

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In the case of curved ducts, the loss of prestress depends upon the radius of curvature fi of the duct
and the coefficient of friction between the duct surface and the tendon.
For a straight or moderately curved profile, with curved or straight tendons, the value of prestressing
force P, at a distance meters from tensioning end and acting :in the direction of the tangent to the
curve of the cable, shall be calculated as below :

Where
Prestressing force in the prestressed steel at the tensioning end acting in the direction of
the tangent to the curve of the cable,
Cumulative angle in radians through which the tangent to the cable profile has turned
between any two points under consideration,
Coefficient of friction between tendons and duct material;
( may be taken as 0.55 for steel moving on smooth concrete, 0.30 for steel moving
on steel fixed to duct, and 0.25 for steel moving on lead), and
Coefficient for wave effect varying from to per meter.

Frictional losses can be reduced by several methods, such as :

(a) Over-tensioning the tendons by an amount equal to the maximum frictional loss, and
(b) Jacking the tendons from both ends of the beam, generally adopted when the tendons are long
or when the angles of curvature are large.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS DUE TO ANCHORAGE SLIP

In most of post-tensioning systems, when the cable is tensioned and the jack is released to transfer
prestress to concrete, the friction wedges, employed to grip the wires. slip a small distance before the
wires can be firmly held between the wedges. The magnitude of slip depends upon the type of wedge
and the stress in the wires. This loss of prestress occurs only in post-tensioned members as no
anchorages are used in pre-tensioned members.
The loss during anchoring, which occurs with wedge-type grip, is normally allowed for on the site by
over-extending the tendon in the prestressing operation by the amount of the draw - in before
anchoring.
Loss of prestress due to anchorage slip

where
Modulus of elasticity of steel,
Anchorage slip, and
Length of the cable.

Loss due to slip in anchorage is of special importance with short members and the necessary
additional elongation may be provided at the time of tensioning to compensate for this loss.

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LOSS OF PRESTRESS DUE TO CREEP OF CONCRETE

Creep of concrete means time dependent deformation of concrete. Its effect depends upon the interval
of time for which the member is loaded. For instance, suppose a concrete member is subjected to an
external load which causes a deformation. If the member remains loaded for a long time it is seen that
the deformation increases without any increase of load due to creep.

When the consider creep in regard to loss of prestress, we have to see that the prestressed member is
under compressive stresses due to prestresses. Due to these compressive stresses, compressive strains
are produced. The immediate effect of these compressive strains is considered in the calculation of
loss of prestress due to elastic shortening.

Due to creep of concrete, these compressive strains keep on increasing with time. it means that the
length of the member keeps on reducing with time (though this length decrease shall be a of a small
magnitude and shall not be visible). Due to this length decrease, length of tendons also shall decrease
by the same amount — leading to lowering of stresses in tendons, or in other words, to loss of
prestress.

The creep loss due to live load stress, erection stresses and other stresses of short duration may be
ignored. The loss of prestress due to creep of concrete is obtained as the product of the modulus of
elasticity of the prestressing steel and the ultimate creep strain of the concrete fibre integrated along
the line of centre of gravity of the prestressing steel over its entire length.

The total creep strain during any specific period shall be assumed, for all practical purposes, to be the
creep strain due to sustained stress equal to the average of the stresses at the beginning and end of the
period.
The loss of prestress due to creep
Where
Creep coefficient,
Modular ratio, and
Original prestress in concrete.
As long as the stress in concrete does not exceed one-third of characteristic compressive strength,
creep may be assumed to be proportional to the stress.

For calculation of deformation at some stage before the total creep is reached, it may be assumed
that about half the total creep takes place in first month after loading and that about thyee-
quarters of the total creep takes place in the first six months after loading.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS DUE TO SHRINKAGE OF CONCRETE

We know that concrete shrinks in volume when it dries up. This volume reduction takes place in the
form of reduction of all dimensions. A major reduction of dimensions in a beam element is expected

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to take place along the length as all dimensions proportionally reduce.

The shrinkage of concrete in prestressed members results in a shortening of tensioned wires and hence
contributes to the loss of stress. The shrinkage of concrete is influenced by the type of cement,
aggregates and the method of curing used.
Shrinkage of concrete depends only on the interval of time and the moisture conditions, but is
independent of the stresses in the member due to loads.
The loss of prestress due to shrinkage of concrete shall be the product of the modulus of elasticity of
steel and the shrinkage strain of concrete. The approximate value of shrinkage strain for design shall be
assumed as follows:
F‹›r pre-tensioning
For post-tensioning

Where Age of concrete at transfer in days.

For the calculation of deformation of concrete at some stage before the maximum shrinkage is
reached, it may be assumed that half of the shrinkage takes place during the first month and that
about three-quarter of the shrinkage takes place in first six months after commencement of drying.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS DUE TO RELAXATION OF STEEL

Relaxation of steel represents the time dependent reduction of stresses in steel even when the strain
remains constant. In a way it may be a phenomenon similar to creep where an increase in strains at a
constant stress takes place in a time dependent manner.
The relaxation losses in prestressing steels vary with type of steel, initial prestress, age, and temperature
and, therefore, shall be determined from experiments. When experimental values are not available,
the relaxation losses may be assumed as given in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 : Relaxation Losses for Prestressing Steel at 1000 Hours at 27°C
Relaxation Loss
Initial stress

where is the characteristic strength of prestressing steel.

No reduction in the value of the relaxation losses should be made for a tendon with a load equal to
or greater than the relevant jacking force that has been applied for a short *‹me prior to the
anchoring of the tendons.

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EXAMPLE 01
A pre-tensioned concrete beam, 200 mm wide and 300 mm deep, is prestressed by straight wires
carrying an initial force of 150 kN at an eccentricity of 100 mm. Assume modulus of elasticity of
steel as
2 x 105 N/mm2 and that of concrete as 0.33 x 105 N/mm2, respectively. Estimate the percentage
loss of stress in steel due to elastic deformation of concrete if the area of steel wires is 188 mm2.

Solution

50 mm

Stress in Concrete

In the above expression for calculation of stress, comes in the second term on the right hand
side as we are calculating stress in concrete fiber at the location of tendon itself. So, or in is
replaced by e.

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EXAMPLE 2

In a prestressed concrete beam of cross-section 250 x 350 mm and span 6 meter, an initial
prestressing force of 350 kN is applied at an eccentricity of 70 mm, by tendons of area 400 mm2.
Assuming modulus of elasticity of steel as and that of concrete as , slip
in anchorage as 1.5 mm, creep coefficient in concrete as 1, shrinkage strain of concrete as
0.0002 and relaxation loss in steel as 3%, find the total loss of stress in the tendons.

Solution

The losses of prestress due to various causes:

(a) Loss of stress due to elastic shortening of concrete

(b) Loss of prestress due to anchorage slip

(c) Loss of stress due to creep of concrete

(d) Loss of stress due to relaxation of steel

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(e) Loss of stress due to shrinkage of concrete

(f) Total loss of stress in the tendons

=21.49%

TOTAL LOSS OF PRESTRESS

The total amount of losses of prestresses may be accounted for in a prestressed concrete member by
adding different losses which may take place for that member.
As the types of construction of pre and post-tensioned concrete members are different, same total
loss of prestress does not occur in both of them.
In this connection, we may put various losses in either of two categories : losses which take place
during transfer of prestress and those which take place after the transfer of prestress have taken place.
Los of prestress due to friction and curvature of ducts and loss of prestress due to slip in anchorage
take place only in post-tensioned construction as there is no scope for them to occur in
pre-tensioned construction.
As a general guide, it may be taken that total loss of prestress may be in the range of 20 to 25 percent
of the initial prestress, the lower and higher values of this range generally applying to post-tensioned
and pre-tensioned concrete members respectively. It may seem natural as prestresses in post-
tensioned members are generally applied at a later stage by which time concrete is able to have
gained most of its strength.

SUMMARY
In this unit we have studied how some of the prestresses in pre and post- tensioned concrete members
may be lost. These losses are dependent on type of the member (pre or post-tensioned) as well as
these may occur differently — entirely in the initial stage or proportionately with time elapsed. These
losses in prestresses lower down the initial prestresses introduced and hence the distribution of
stresses in the concrete member shall be subject to changes. We have to suitably calculate all such
losses taking place and have to take appropriate steps so that even after the losses of prestress, the
required amount of stresses should remain in the concrete member to take care of the safety of the
member. One of the appropriate steps in this respect may be to use better grades of materials to
reduce the losses — e.g., losses due to shrinkage and creep.

Another way may be to extra stress the tendons by an amount equal to these losses so that after

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these losses take place; the required amount of prestresses shall still be available. The use of either
pre or post-tensioned concrete member in a particular ease may be dependent on the total amount or
mechanism of such losses taking place also. For example, due to greater losses anticipated and other
practical difficulties, railway sleepers are manufactured as pre-tensioned concrete members only.

POSTTEST
(a) List various types of loss of prestress in pretensioned and post-tensioned members.
(b) Describe losses of prestress that occur during the tensioning process.
(c) How do you compute the loss of prestress due to elastic deformation?
(d) How do you compute the loss of prestress in steel due to shrinkage of concrete?
(e) How do you compute the loss of prestress in steel due to relaxation of steel?
(f) What is relaxation of stress in steel? What do you mean by creep of concrete?

FOLLOW-UP WORK
1. A pre-tensioned concrete beam, 250 mm wide and 350 mm deep, is prestressed by straight wires
carrying an initial force of 200 kN at an eccentricity of 50 mm. Assume modulus of elasticity
of steel as 2 x 105 N/mm2 and that of concrete as 0.33 x 105 N/mm2 respectively. Estimate the
percentage loss of stress in steel due to elastic deformation of concrete if the area of steel
wires is
2. In a prestressed concrete beam of cross-section 225 x 325 mm and span 5 m, initial
prestressing force of 350 kN is applied at an eccentricity of 60 mm, by tendons of area 400
mm2. Assuming modulus of elasticity of steel as 2 x 10a N/mm2 and that of concrete as 0.33 x
105 N/mm2, slip in anchorage as 1.5 mm, creep coefficient in concrete 6 as 1, shrinkage strain
of concrete as 0.0002 and relaxation loss in steel as 4%, find the total percentage loss of
stress in the tendons.

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