CVX7640 – Structural Design

Session 31

Design of a Prestressed Concrete

Member - I
Aim:

To introduce the steps to be followed in the

Serviceability Limit State design of a prestressed
concrete flexural member.

Objective:

To be able to follow the significant steps in the

Serviceability Limit State design process of a
prestressed concrete flexural member, according
to stipulations of the code BS 8110.

31.1 Introduction

In previous sessions the analysis of sections under given

prestress force and applied load was considered. The
general problem, however, is that of design, given a
structure with overall geometry and applied load, what
size of member is required and what are the details of the
prestressing force and tendon profile required?

A trial-and-error approach could be used, the test being

whether the stresses at all sections of the member are
satisfactory under all possible load conditions. This might
prove to be a very lengthy process, however, and a
systematic approach would clearly be advantageous.

The design of Class 1 and 2 members will be illustrated in

the following sections, primarily through the use of an
example of a prestressed concrete bridge deck slab. It is
recognized that the solid section used in the examples is
not the most economical section, but it serves to illustrate
the basic design principles and to introduce the idea of a
prestressed concrete flexural member.

The design procedure for Class 3 members is slightly

different and will be discussed separately. Flow charts for
the design procedures for Class 1, 2 and 3 members will
be illustrated in a subsequent session.

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31.2 Basic Inequalities for Serviceability Limit State

of Cracking
As a starting point in the design process, consider a
simply supported beam carrying a uniform load, as
shown in Fig. 31.1.

If the initial prestress force and eccentricity at midspan

are Pi and e respectively, then the stresses at the top and
bottom fibres of the beam at midspan, at transfer and
under the service load, may be described by the four
equations shown below,

Figure 31.1: e Centroid of the section

Eccentrically prestressed P P
concrete member of
rectangular cross section X
simply supported and
P/Ac Pe/Zt M/Zt P/Ac-Pe/Zt+M/Zt
loaded with a udl
- + +
+ + + =
+ -
Pe/Zb M/Zb P/Ac+Pe/Zb-M/Zb

Stress distribution at Section X-X

At Transfer: Prestress force P will be Pi after the initial

losses
Pi Pi e M i
ft    … (31.1a)
Ac Zt Zt

Pi Pi e M i
fb    … (31.1b)
Ac Zb Zb

At Service: Prestress force P will be βPi after the losses

up to service
Pi Pi e M s
ft    … (31.1c)
Ac Zt Zt

 Pi  Pi e M s
fb    … (31.1d)
Ac Zb Zb

Where; Zt and Zb are the elastic section moduli of the

section for the top and bottom fibres respectively, Ac is the
cross-sectional area,  and β are the short-term and long-
term prestress loss factors. It is assumed in Eqs. 31.1(a)-(d)
that the transfer and service load bending moments, Mi
and Ms respectively, are sagging moments. In sections of a
member where either of these are hogging moments; the
signs of Mi and Ms in Eqs. 31.1(a)-(d) must be reversed. If
the maximum allowable compressive stresses in the

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concrete are f’max and fmax at transfer and service loads,

respectively, and the corresponding minimum allowable
stresses are f’min and fmin respectively (note that if fmin is
negative it would represent an allowable tensile stress),
then Eqs. 31.1(a)-(d) may now be rewritten as inequalities
as depicted below.

Pi Pi e Mi '

   f min … (31.2a)
Ac Zt Zt

Pi Pi e M i '

   f max … (31.2b)
Ac Zb Zb

Pi  Pi e M i
   f max … (31.2c)
Ac Zt Zt

Pi  Pi e M i
   f min … (31.2d)
Ac Zb Zb

Inequalities 31.2 (a)-(d) are illustrated in Fig. 31.2.

Pi/Ac Pie/Zt Mi/Zt Pi /Ac-Pi e/Zt+Mi/Zt ≥ f’min

- + +
+ + + =
Figure 31.2: + -
Illustration of stress Pie/Zb Mi/Zb Pi /Ac+Pi e/Zb-Mi/Zb ≤ f’max
inequalities for the (a) At Transfer
Serviceability Limit State
of Cracking βPi/Ac βPie/Zt Ms/Zt βPi /Ac- βPi e/Zt+M s/Zt ≤ fmax
- + +
+ + + =
+ -
βPie/Zb Ms/Zb βPi /Ac+ βPi e/Zb-Ms/Zb ≥ fmin

(b) At Service

By combining inequalities 31.2(a) and 31.2(c), an

expression for Zt, may be derived:
M s   M i
Zt  '
… (31.3a)
f max  f min

Similarly, inequalities 31.2(b) and 31.2(d) may be

combined to give an expression
M  M i
Zb  ' s … (31.3b)
f max  f min

Note that the two expressions for the minimum values of

Zt and Zb depend only on the difference between the
maximum and minimum bending moments and

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allowable stresses, and not on their absolute values. These

minima, however, take no account of practical values of
prestress force and eccentricity. In practice, values for Zt
and Zb larger than those given by inequalities 31.3(a) and
31.3(b) are usually chosen.

Example 31.1
A post-tensioned prestressed concrete bridge deck is in
the form of a solid slab of depth h, a tendon eccentricity of
e and is simply supported, over 20m. It carries a service
load of 10.3 kN/m2. The allowable concrete stresses are
given below. If the total short and long-term losses are
10% and 20%, respectively, determine the minimum
depth of slab required.

'
f max = 20.0 N/mm2 f max = 16.7 N/mm2

'
f min = - 1.0 N/mm2 f min = 0.0 N/mm2

Mi = 24h x202/8= 1200h kNm/m

Ms = 1200h + (10.3 x 202)/8 = (1200h + 515) kNm/m

Thus, from inequalities 31.3(a) and (b),

0.9( 1200 h  515 )  0.8x1200 h

Zt  x10 6
( 0.9x16.7 )  0.8( 1)
= (7.58h + 29.28) x 106 mm3/m

0.9x( 1200h  515 )  0.8 x1200 h

Zb  x10 6
( 0.8x 20.0 )  0.9( 0 )
= (7.50h + 28.97) x 106 mm3/m.

For a rectangular section,

Zt = Zb = 103 x (h2/6) x 106
= 0.167h2 x 109 mm3/m.

Thus two equations can be formed for h

0.167h2 x 109 = 7.58h + 29.28 x 106
0.167h2 x 109 = 7.50h + 28.97 x 106

Solving these two equations gives values for h of 0.442 m

and 0.440 m, respectively. Thus the minimum depth of
the slab must be 442 mm. When initially sizing a section
using inequalities, 31.3(a) and 31.3(b), it is better to be on
the generous side, in order to ensure that the ultimate
limit state is satisfied. This will also ensure that the effects
of misplaced tendons during construction will be
minimized.

31.3 Design of Prestress Force

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The next stage in the design process is to find the

prestress force, based on a maximum eccentricity
determined from the section properties.
Rearranging inequalities 31.2 (a)-(d) will yield inequalities
for the required prestress force, for a given value of
eccentricity. Thus the new inequalities are:

'
Zt f min  Mi
Pi  … 31.4(a)
 ( Zt / Ac  e )
'
Zb f max  Mi
Pi  … 31.4(b)
 ( Zb / Ac  e )
Zt f max  M s
Pi  … 31.4(c)
 ( Zt / Ac  e )
Zb f min  M s
Pi  … 31.4(d)
 ( Zb / Ac  e )
There are thus two upper and two lower bounds on the
value of the prestress force. Generally the minimum value
of prestress force within these bounds is required, since
the cost of the prestressing steel is a large proportion of
the total cost of prestressed concrete structures.

Example 31.2
For the bridge deck in Example 31.1, with a depth of 525
mm, if the maximum eccentricity of the tendons at mid
span is 75 mm above the soffit, find the minimum value
of the prestress force required.

Zt = Zb = 5252 x 103/6 = 45.94 x 106 mm3/m

Ac = 5.25 x 105 mm2/m
e = 525/2 - 75 = 188mm
Mi = 1200 x 0.525 =630 kNm/m
Ms = 630 + 515 = 1145 kNm/m

Inequalities 31.4(a)-(d) give the following values for Pi

Pi  7473.4 kN/m
Pi  6246.3 KN/m
Pi  4699.3 KN/m
Pi  5195.0 KN/m

The minimum value of Pi which lies within these limits is

5195.0 kN/m. Note that in inequalities 31.4(a) and 31.4(c)
the denominator is negative for this example. Dividing
both sides of an inequality by a negative number has the
effect of changing the sense of the inequality.

If the prestress force is provided by evenly spaced

tendons, each with an initial prestress force of 1378 kN,
the spacing of the tendons is 265 mm. In this example, the

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prestress force can be varied easily by adjusting the

tendon spacing. In the case of a beam, however, if the
allowable range of prestress force given by inequalities
31.4 (a)-(d) is small, it may be difficult to provide a
practical arrangement of tendons which falls within this
range. Unlike the case of reinforced concrete, where the
over-provision of reinforcement only adds to the strength
of a member, with prestressed concrete members too high
a prestress force can lead to allowable stresses being
exceeded at both transfer and service loads.

The stresses at the two loading conditions are:

Transfer:
0.9 x 5195.0 x 10 3 0.9 x 5195.0 x 10 3 x 188 630 x 10 6
ft   
5.25 x 10 5 45.94x10 6 45.94x10 6

'
ft = 8.91-19.13+13.71 = 3.49 N/mm2 (> f min )
'
fb = 8.91+19.13-13.71 = 14.33 N/mm2(< f max )

Service:
ft = (0.8/0.9)8.91 -(0.8/0.9)19.13 +(1145 x 106)/(45.94 x 106)
= 7.92 - 17.00 + 24.92 = 15.84 N/mm2 ( < f max );
fb = 7.92 +17.00 -24.92 = 0 N/mm2( = f min )

The most critical stress condition is that corresponding

to Equation 31.4(d), the minimum stress condition under
service load, while all the other stresses are within the
prescribed limits. This is to be expected, since the
prestressing force chosen was determined using
Inequality 31.4 (d).

31.4 Magnel Diagram

The four inequalities for the prestress force in Example

31.1 yielded a range of possible values for Pi. However,
for a given value of e there may not be such a range,
since the two inner of the four bounds to Pi, could
overlap. In this case, another value of e must be chosen
and the limits to Pi found again, the process being
repeated until a satisfactory combination of Pi and e is
found. Clearly a more direct way of arriving at such a
combination would be very useful.

To this end, Inequalities 31.4(a)-(d) may be written in the

following form:
1  Zt / Ac  e 
 '
… 31.5(a)
Pi ( Zt f min  Mi )

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1  Zb / Ac  e 
 '
… 31.5(b)
Pi ( Zb f max  Mi )
1  Zt / Ac  e 
 … 31.5(c)
Pi ( Zt f max  M s )

1  Zb / Ac  e 
 … 31.5(d)
Pi ( Zb f min  M s )

As with the earlier inequalities, care must be taken with

inequalities. 31.5(a) and 31.5(c). They are only valid if
the denominators are positive. If either of the
denominators are negative, then the original inequality
31.2(a) or 31.2(c) has been divided by a negative
quantity, and the inequality must be reversed.

The relationships between 1/Pi and e are linear and, if

plotted graphically, they provide a very useful means of
determining appropriate values of Pi and e. These
diagrams were first introduced by a Belgian Engineer
named Magnel, hence the name Magnel Diagram.

Example 31.3
Construct a Magnel diagram for the bridge slab in
Example 31.1 and find the minimum prestress force for a
tendon eccentricity of 188mm. What would be the effect
on the minimum prestress force due to: (i) reducing the
eccentricity to 125mm; (ii) increasing it to 250mm?

Magnal Diagram for

Example 31.3:
The Y axis depicts 1/Pi
and the X axis depicts
eccentrically of tendons
from neutral axis of the
slab

188 250 283

Eccentricity mm

Inequalities 31.5(a)-(d) may be written as;

108/Pi  0.133e-11.65

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108/Pi  0.058e + 5.08

108/Pi  0.212e- 18.53
108/Pi  0.070e + 6.11
Note that the inequality signs in 31.5(a) and 31.5(c) have
reversed since the denominators are negative. If the
above inequalities are plotted with axes as 1/Pi, and e
then each is a linear relationship defining a feasible
region shown shaded in the Magnal diagram.

For any given eccentricity, it is easy to see which pair of

inequalities 31.5(a)-(d) will give the limits to Pi. For the
required eccentricity e = 188 mm, the range of allowable
values for Pi is given by inequalities 31.4(b) and (d), i.e.
Pi  6246.3 kN/m width
Pi  5195.0 kN/m width

If the maximum eccentricity is reduced to 125 mm, it can

be seen from the Magnel diagram that there is no
feasible range for Pi. This means that it is impossible to
satisfy the four inequalities 31.2 (a)-(d) with this value of
e where at least one of the extreme fibre stresses would
exceed the allowable value.

If the value of e is increased to 250 mm, the range of

values for Pi is now given by inequalities 31.4(a) and
31.4(d) i.e.
Pi  4621.9 kN/m width
Pi  4240.7 kN/m width

The value of e could be increased further, resulting in a

range for Pi which would give smaller absolute values,
but eventually the tendon position would reach the soffit
of the slab. The feasible region extends from e = 153 mm to
e = 283 mm. The two limits correspond to the overall
maximum and minimum prestress forces, respectively, in
the section, and each is governed by the maximum and
minimum stresses respectively, under all load conditions.
But in practice the limiting eccentricity is less than half the
depth of the slab, due to the cover which must be
provided to the prestressing steel. Value of e = 188 mm is
the maximum practical eccentricity for this example,
giving adequate cover from the soffit of the slab.

These variations of Pi with e show a general trend, namely

that increasing e reduces Pi and vice versa, for minimum
prestress force, maximum eccentricity should be provided
at the point of maximum applied bending moment. This
will ensure maximum ultimate strength, also.

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The Magnel diagram is a very useful tool for

understanding the relationship between prestress force
and eccentricity. Even though much of the routine
calculation work involved in prestressed concrete design
is nowadays carried out by computer, it is essential for a
designer to understand the way the variables in the
design process affect one another.

31.5 Cable Zone

Once the prestress force has been chosen based on the
most critical section, it is possible to find the limits of the
eccentricity e at sections elsewhere along the member.
Thus an allowable cable zone is produced, within which
the profile may take any shape. Here, the term 'cable' is
used to denote the resultant of all the individual tendons.
As long as the cable which represent the centeroid of the
tendons lie within the zone, the stresses at the different
loading stages will not exceed the allowable values, even
though some of the tendons might physically lie outside
the cable zone.

Inequalities 31.5(a)-(d) may be rearranged to give;

'
e  ( M i  Zt f min ) Pi  Zt / Ac … 31.6(a)

'
e  ( M i  Zb f max ) Pi  Zb / Ac … 31.6(b)

e  ( M s  Zt f max )  Pi  Zt / Ac … 31.6(c)

e  ( M s  Zb f min ) Pi  Zb / Ac … 31.6(d)

Relations, which could be used to evaluate the cable zone

along a prestressed flexural member.

Example 31.4
In Example 31.3, if the prestress force is 5195.0 kN/m
width, determine the cable zone for the full length of the
bridge deck, and a suitable cable profile.

The limits for the cable zone given by inequalities 31.6(a)-

(d) are;
e  97.3 + 2.139 x 10-7 Mi
e  109.0 + 2.139 x 10-7 Mi
e  - 97.1 + 2.406 x 10-7 Ms
e  - 87.5 + 2.406 x 10- 7 Ms

The values of Mi, Ms and e along the length or the slab are
shown in Table 31.1 for one half of the slab, since all the
values are symmetrical about the centre-line. In this
example, for all sections along the slab, inequalities

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31.6(a) and 31.6(d) will give the limits to the cable zone, as
shown in the diagram below. This is usually the case if
the minimum prestress force has been chosen, since these
inequalities relate to the minimum stresses under all load
conditions.
Cable Zone Centroid of the section

Cable Zone for the Slab in this Example

The width of the zone at the mid-span section is 44 mm,

which is sufficient to allow for any inaccuracies in
locating the tendon ducts. However, for the chosen
prestress force of 5195.0 kN/m width, one limit to the
cable zone is e = 188 mm, which was fixed earlier as the
maximum practical eccentricity for this structure. Thus, if
the tendons are nominally fixed with an eccentricity of
188 mm, a small displacement upwards would bring the
prestress force outside the cable zone. In order to
overcome this, the spacing of the tendons is decreased
slightly from 265 mm to 250 mm, giving an increased
prestress force of 5512.0 kN/m width. The limits to the
cable zone at the mid-span are now 172 mm and 224 mm,
and so the nominal eccentricity of 188 mm lies within the
cable zone with an acceptable tolerance of 16 mm.

Cable Zone as eccentricity limits for slab in Example 31.1

Distance (m) 0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0
Mi (kNm) 0 276 473 591 630
Ms (kNm) 0 501 859 1073 1145
e  (mm) -88 33 119 171 188
e  (mm) 97 156 198 224 232

If the shape of the chosen cable profile is parabolic, then if

the eccentricity at mid-span is 188 mm and at the support
it is zero, giving a uniform stress at this point, the shape
of the profile is given by

y = (4 x 0.188/202) x (20- x)

where; y is a coordinate measured from the centroid of

the section. The coordinates of the curve along the length
of the deck can be found, and these are used to fix the
tendon ducts in position during construction. These
coordinates can be shown to lie within the revised cable
zone, based on Pi = 5512 kN/m width.

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One important factor in choosing a cable profile for a

post-tensioned member is the detail of the end-blocks.
Manufacturers of the various prestressing systems
usually specify the clearances required for their
anchorages, and these will influence the eccentricity of the
tendons at the end of the member.

In the above example the magnitude of the prestressing

force has been assumed to be constant; in real post-
tensioned members the prestress force varies.

31.6 Minimum Prestress Force

Since a significant portion of the cost of prestressed
concrete members is in the prestressing steel, in any
design the aim should be to reduce this to a minimum.
Assuming that the steel is stressed to its limit, this is
equivalent to keeping the prestress force to a minimum.

As shown in the Section 31.3, to satisfy the basic

inequalities concerning maximum and minimum concrete
stresses at transfer and service load, there is usually a
range within which the prestress force must lie. The
minimum prestress force required for the service load in a
simply supported beam is achieved when the eccentricity
is a maximum. However, the eccentricity will be limited
by consideration of the minimum concrete stress at
transfer.

It is useful to examine the prestress force required in a

given section, with a particular eccentricity but with
varying transfer and service load bending moments. For
the slab in Example 31.1 inequalities 31.4(a)-(d) can be
rearranged as;
Pi ≤ 11.0561Mi + 508
Pi ≤ 4.033Mi + 3706
Pi ≥ 12.438Ms - 9543
Pi ≥ 4.537Ms

These inequalities are shown graphically in Fig. 31.7,

which shows that for the maximum eccentricity of 188
mm the two limits to the prestress force are 5195 kN/m
and 6246 kN/m, as determined previously. It also shows
that the minimum prestress force is governed by
inequality 31.4(d) up to the value of 5480 kN/m. After
this point, the prestress force is governed by inequality
31.4(c), but more importantly, the rate of increase in
service load bending moment Ms with prestress force is
much reduced. The prestress force of 5480 kN/m may
thus be regarded as an economic maximum force to
provide. If a higher force is required for the given section,

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then probably it would be better to increase the section

size.

It can also be seen from Fig.31.7 that, for a given variation

of bending moment (Ms – Mi) there is a corresponding
range of prestress force. If, in Example 31.1 Mi remains at
630 kNm/m, but Ms is increased to 1350 kNm/m, the
limits to the prestress force are;

Pi ≤ 6246 kN/m
Pi ≥ 7249 kN/m

Clearly there is no feasible range for Pi and the depth of

the slab should be increased.

The ratio of Ms to Mi will also affect the minimum

prestress force. For a given section, if this ratio is low, as
is usually the case in long-span beams, the prestress force
may be placed at a greater eccentricity, and hence may be
smaller in value, than in the same section where the ratio
of Ms to Mi is high.

For members which have a high ratio of Ms to Mi, one

solution is to apply the prestress force in stages. This is
carried out either by initially tensioning some, only, of the
tendons to their full force, or by tensioning them all to a
much lower initial force. In the latter case, the anchorage
system must allow the tendons to be tensioned again to
their full force at a later stage. Another alternative is to
have the initial prestress force provided by pretensioned
tendons, and the remaining prestress force supplied by
post-tensioned tendons, tensioned at a later stage.

An example of where stage prestressing would be

advantageous is in a building where a large clear span is
required at ground floor level and the columns from
several upper floors are carried by a prestressed concrete
beam at first floor level. If the beam were prestressed
initially for the full service load, then only a small
eccentricity at mid-span could be tolerated to cater for the
condition of minimum stress at transfer, leading to a large
total prestress force. By tensioning the beam in stages, as
each upper floor is added, the eccentricity at midspan
could be increased, resulting in a smaller total prestress
force.

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