Pre-stressed Concrete

CE Elective 4
Lecture notes
Chapter 1: Introduction

Most concrete construction in the world is cast-in-place reinforced concrete. In reinforced

concrete structures, steel reinforcement is placed into the concrete to provide the tensile resistance
to flexural loads or to assist
the concrete in carrying
compressive loads.

While a superb building

material, reinforced concrete
must crack before the steel
can significantly contribute to
the strength and stiffness.

Cast-in-place reinforced concrete This behavior led engineers to

develop pre-stressed
concrete, which uses high-strength steel tendons that are stretched to apply a compensating
compressive load to the concrete prior to the application of the service loads. The pre-stressing
force creates a compressive stress in the concrete to counteract the tensile stresses induced by the
service loads. While this pre-stressing force does not result in an intrinsically higher member
strength than reinforced concrete, it does delay cracking so that the service loads are carried
primarily by uncracked concrete. This allows for the use of longer spans without increasing the
member depth, or shallower members for the same span as can be designed with reinforced
concrete.
Pre-cast vs. Cast-in-place reinforced concrete

Source: https://nitterhouseconcrete.com/precast-concrete-vs-site-cast-concrete/
Precast concrete is poured and molded over rebar or wire and then cured offsite. This involves
pouring concrete into pre-made molds and then cured under ideal conditions within the
manufacturing plant itself. Once hardened and ready for use, those preformed concrete products
are shipped to the job site where they are assembled into the desired structure.
Disadvantages of Precast Concrete
There are also some disadvantages to precast concrete. They are discussed below.

1. High Initial Investment: For installing a Precast Concrete plant, heavy and sophisticated
machines are necessary which requires a high initial investment. A large scale of precast
construction projects must be available to ensure sufficient profit.
2. Transportation Issue: The construction site can be at a distant location from the Precast
Concrete plant. In that case, the precast members must be carried to the site using trailers. In
many cases, the reduced costs of Precast Concrete is compensated by the transportation cost.
3. Handling Difficulties: Proper care and precaution have to be taken for handling precast
concrete. Usually, precast members are heavy and large which makes it difficult to handle
without damage. Generally, portable or tower cranes are used to handle precast members.
4. Modification: Limitation In case of precast structures, it is difficult to modify the structure.
For example, if a structural wall is to be dismantled for modification it will impact the overall
stability of the structure.
5. Sensitive Connection Works: Assembling of the precast members is one of the key points
for ensuring strong structural behavior. Connections between several structural members
must be supervised and done properly to ensure the intended behavior of the connection such
as simple, semi-rigid or rigid connections. Besides this, faulty connections may lead to water
leakage and fail sound insulation.

Source: https://civiltoday.com/civil-engineering-materials/concrete/232-advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-precast-concrete
How pre-stressed concrete work?
While reinforced concrete is formed at rest, pre-stressed concrete is formed under stress. Steel bars
are placed in a form and stretched at both ends as the concrete is poured in.

Unstressed/Usual Beam

One method is to pre-tensioned the member, where the tendon is stressed prior to the
placement of the concrete. The tendon consists of one or more pre-stressing steel elements such
as wires, seven-wire strand, or high-strength bars.

Pre-stressed Beam
Video about making Pre-stressed Concrete
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXVBSTDmheY