Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

CEE 405A
Structure VI
(2.0 credits)

Sourav Ray
Assistant Professor, CEE, SUST
sourav.ceesust@gmail.com
 Lecture Six
Prestressed Concrete
References

1. Design of Prestressed Concrete Structures

– T.Y. Lin and Ned H. Burns
Stress

Internal resistance set up by a body when it is deformed.

P
  ;Where, σ = stress; P = Force; A = X-sectional area
A

Three basic types

1. Axial
2. Flexural
2. Shear
Stress

Flexural or Bending Stress

Compression
y

Tension

My ;Where, σ = stress; M = Moment;

 y = distance from neutral axis
I I = second moment of area
Reinforced Concrete

 Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension.

 Steel is strong in tension

 Reinforced concrete uses concrete to resist compression
and to hold bars in position and uses steel to resist
tension.
 Tensile strength of concrete is neglected (i.e. zero).

 R.C beams allows crack under service load.

Prestressed Concrete
 Internal stresses are induced to counteract external
stresses.
Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed Concrete

 Reinforced concrete combines concrete and steel bars

by simply putting them together.

 PC combines high strength concrete with high strength

steel in an active “manner”.

 This is achieved by tensioning the steel and holding it

against the concrete, thus putting the concrete into
compression.

 Concrete is a brittle material with its tensile capacity

now improved by being compressed.
Prestressed Concrete

According to ACI (American Concrete Institute)

Concrete in which there have been

introduced internal stresses of such
magnitude and distribution that the stresses
resulting from given external loadings are
counteracted to a desired degree.

Prestress is commonly introduced by tensioning

the steel reinforcement.
Development of Building Materials
Materials resisting Materials resisting Materials resisting
Compression Tension Tension & Compr.

Stone Bamboos
Timber
Bricks Ropes

Iron bars Structural

Concrete
Steel wires Steel

Passive Reinforced
combination Concrete

High-strength High-strength
Concrete Steel

Active Prestressed
combination Concrete
Hoop Stress
Concept of Prestressing
 The concept of pre stressing was invented years ago
when metal bands were wound around wooden
pieces to form barrel

 The metal bands were tighten under tensile stress

which creates compression between the staves
allowing them to resist internal liquid pressure.
Historical Example

Principle of prestressing applied to barrel construction

Wooden stave as a freebody

Compressive
prestress

Here compressive Tensile prestress

prestress will resist hoop
tension produced by
internal liquid pressure
Half of metal band as a freebody
Brief History
Before the development of prestressed concrete, two significant
developments of reinforced concrete are the invention of Portland
cement and introduction of steel in concrete.
Brief History
Brief History
Why high-strength steel and concrete is mandatory?

Lengthening
Steel is Prestressed of steel

Shrinkage and
Prestress is lost Creep of concrete
Why high-strength steel and concrete is mandatory?
Consider an ordinary structural steel bar prestressed to a
stress of 124MPa and E = 200x10E3 MPa,
Assuming unit Loss of concrete due to shrinkage and creep is
= 0.0008

Then unit elongation of steel is:

f

E
124
  0.00062  0.0008
200,000

That means, the unit elongation of steel will entirely be lost

Why high-strength steel and concrete is mandatory?

Lengthening of steel =
0.00062L

Shrinkage & creep of

concrete= ‐‐ 0.008L
Why high-strength steel and concrete is mandatory?

In 1928, E.Freyssinet started using high strength steel wires for

prestressing.

Such wires, with an ultimate strength as high as 1725MPa and

a yield point over 1240MPa, are prestressed to about
1,000MPa, create a unit strain of δ= 1,000/200,000 =0.005

Assuming a total loss of 0.0008 due to shrinkage and creep, a

net strain of 0.005-0.0008=0.0042 would still be left, which is
equivalent to a stress of

F = E δ= 0.0042x200,000=840MPa.
Why high-strength steel and concrete is mandatory?

Lengthening of steel =
0.005L

Shrinkage & creep of Effective strain in steel =

concrete= ‐‐ 0.0008L 0.0042L
Pros

Entire section of concrete becomes effective

Very suitable for longer span and heavier load (as

higher strengths of materials employed)

As more slender, more Artistic !!

As partial testing of both the steel and the concrete is

performed during prestressing operations, it seems safer !

Deflect appreciably before failure

Economical when same unit is repeated many times

Cons (Contra in Latin)

Stronger materials have higher unit cost

Many auxiliary materials are required (anchorages, conduits etc)

Extreme care needed in design, handling and construction

Sometimes weight is desired than strength, those structures are not

suitable for prestressing as it is light weight
Applications

 Bridges
 Slabs in buildings
 Water Tank
 Concrete Pile
 Thin Shell Structures
 Nuclear Power Plant
Applications

Fig: Odawara Blue-Way Bridge Fig: Kiso River Bridge

Applications

Fig:Alathiyur Silo(Blending),TamilNadu
Applications

Fig: Indira Sagar Dam,Khandwa

Applications

Fig: Maheshwar Hydroelectric Power Project ,MadhyaPradesh

Applications

Mohakhali Flyover
Applications

Khilgaon Flyover