REPUBLIC OF BENIN

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MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH
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UNIVERSITY OF ABOMEY-CALAVI
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DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Sector : GC4

English presentation

THEME : Prestressed Concrete

Presented by: Supervised by :

Chris Florel AGUESSY

Alida Ahitèmè LIMA Mr. Bienvenue OLORY
Déo-Gratias ZODEHOUGAN

Academic year: 2022-2023

Text : Prestressed concrete
Prestressed concrete is defined as a concrete that has been prestressed so
that the induced internal actions counteract the external loading to a desired
degree. Prestressed concrete members can be placed in one of two categories :
pretensioned or posttensioned. Pretensionned prestressed concrete members are
produced by stretching steel tendons between external buttresses before the
concrete is placed. When the concrete has reached the required strength, the
tendons are released from the buttresses and the prestressing force is transferred
to to the concrete of the member by the bond between the tendons and the
concrete. In the case of posttensionned prestressed concrete members, steel
tendons are stretched in ducts in the concrete, after the concrete has hardened and
gained sufficient strength, by jacking against the concrete member itself, and then
the tendons are anchored at the ends of the member.
The general principles of prestressing concrete were know for many years
before it became a pratical method of construction. Early attempts to prestress
concrete were unsuccessful, mainly because high-strength steel was not used for
the tendons and the low initial steel stress was lost with time as a result of the
shrinkage and creep of concrete.
The general concepts of prestressed concrete were first formulated in the
1880s by Doehring of Germany and Jackson of the United States. The modern
development of prestressed concrete is credited to Freyssinet of France, who
clearly showed the effect of concrete creep and shrinkage and in approximately
1928 demonstrated that by the use of high-tensile steel the losses in prestress
could be kept down to reasonnable proportions. The pratical development of
pretensioning was due mainly to Hoyer of Germany. The wide application of
prestressed concrete became possible when reliable and economical methods of
tensioning and end anchorage were developed.

Bibliographical references :
Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition), 2003.
Keys words

Concrete : is a composite artificial material made up of a mixture of

aggregates (sand and gravel), hydraulic binders (cement), mixing water and
additives if possible.

Prestressing : in general, it is a process which consists in subjecting a

material, in particular concrete, to various stresses before its commissioning in
order to create additional constraints which will oppose the external constraints
which this material will undergo.

Steel tendon : it is a set of parts made up of metal wires wound hellicaly

on one or more layers, forming the the stands which in turn are wound around a
core or soul. These parts transmit force, energy and movement to each other.

Creep : it is physical phenomenon that causes the delayed irreversible

deformation of a material subjected to a permanent load.

High-strength steel : it is a steel that resists well corrosion and which has
better mechanical properties.
Comment

The above text is extracted from Encyclopedia of Physical Science and

Technology (Third edition) published in 2003. It tell us about the prestressed
concrete concept and its history.
Concrete prestressing was invented by Freyssinet in 1928 and its pratical
use was made possible thanks to hoyer. This technique aims to improve the
resistance of the concrete to various stresses when it will be subjected in particular
to loads and tractions that are dangerous for its integrity.
Indeed, preparing the prestressed concrete consists in compressing it
sufficiently so that its compressions at all points are greater than the tractions that
the concrete will subsequently undergo. This compression is ensured by very tight
steel tendons which will transmit their tension to the concrete either by pre-
tension or by post-tension.
Thus, because of its high resistance, prestressed concrete is recommended
in the construction of large scale structure. It is therefore necessary that we buy
the machines in Benin to construct the prestressed concrete structure without
soliciting foreigners and to guarantee the durability of our structures.