CHAPTER 4

FLEXURAL DESIGN
(PART 4)
 4.6 LOAD BALANCING AS A DESIGN TOOL
• A change in the alignment of a prestressing tendon in a
beam is to produce a vertical force on the beam at that
location.
• Prestressing a member with curved or deflected tendons
thus has the effect of introducing a set of equivalent
loads, and these may be treated just as any other loads
in finding moments or deflections.
• Each particular tendon profile produces its own unique
set of equivalent forces.
• Typical tendon profiles, with corresponding equivalent
loads and moment diagrams, were illustrated in Fig. 1.8.
(Re-produced on next slide)
• The equivalent load concept offers an alternative
approach to the determination of required prestress force
and eccentricity.
Fig
1.8
• The prestress force and tendon profile can be
established so that external loads that will act
are exactly counteracted by the vertical
forces resulting from prestressing.
• The net result, for that particular set of
external loads, is that the beam is subjected
only to axial compression, and no bending
moment.
• The selection of the load to be balanced is
left to the judgment of the designer. Often the
balanced load chosen is the sum of the self-
weight and superimposed dead load.
• The design approach was introduced in the
United States by T. Y. Lin in 1963, and is
known as the load balancing method.
• The fundamentals will be illustrated in the context of the
simply supported, uniformly loaded beam of Fig. 4.17a.
• The beam is to be designed for a balanced load consisting of
its own weight w0, the superimposed dead load wd, and some
fractional part of the live load denoted by kbwl.
• Since the external load is uniformly distributed, it is
reasonable to adopt a tendon having a parabolic shape.
• It is easily shown that a parabolic tendon will produce a
uniformly distributed upward load equal to

Where P is the magnitude of the prestress force, y is the

maximum sag of the tendon measured with respect to the
chord between its end points, and “l” is the span.
FIGURE 4.17 Load balancing for a uniformly loaded beam, (a) External and
equivalent loads, (b) Concrete stresses resulting from axial and bending effects of
prestress plus bending resulting from balanced external load, (c) Concrete
stresses resulting when load kbwl, is removed
• If the downward load exactly equals the upward load from the
tendon, these two loads cancel and no bending stress is
produced, as shown in Fig. 4.17b.
• The bending stresses due to prestress eccentricity are equal and
opposite to the bending stresses resulting from the external load.
• The net resulting stress is uniform compression fa equal to that
produced by the axial force Pcosθ.
• Excluding consideration of time-dependent effects, the beam
would show no vertical deflection.
• If the live load is removed or increased, then bending stresses
and deflections will result because of the unbalanced portion of
the load.
• Stresses resulting from this differential loading must be calculated
and superimposed on the axial compression to obtain the net
stresses for the unbalanced state.
• If we refer to Fig. 4.17c, the bending stresses f'b resulting from removal
of the partial live loading are superimposed on the uniform compressive
stress fa, resulting from the combination of eccentric prestress force and
full balanced load to produce the final stress distribution.
• Loads other than uniformly distributed would lead naturally to the
selection of other tendon configurations. For example, if the external
load consisted of a single concentration at mid span, a deflected tendon
such as that of Fig. 1.8a would be chosen, with maximum eccentricity at
mid span, varying linearly to zero eccentricity at the supports.
• A third-point loading would lead the designer to select a tendon
deflected at the third points.
• A uniformly loaded cantilever beam would best be stressed using a
tendon in which the eccentricity varied parabolically, from zero at the
free end to y at the fixed support, in which case the upward reaction of
the tendon would be
FIGURE 4.18 Load-balancing tendon profiles for uniformly loaded beams
continuous over supports, (a) Two-span continuous beam, (b) Beam with
cantilever.
• For simple spans designed by the load-balancing concept, it is
necessary for the tendon to have zero eccentricity at the supports,
because the moment due to superimposed loads is zero there.
• Any tendon eccentricity at supports would produce an unbalanced
moment (in itself an equivalent load) equal to the horizontal
component of the prestress force times its eccentricity.
• For spans continuous over supports, this restriction does not apply.
• In Fig. 4.18a, if the prestress force is the same in the two spans
adjacent to the interior support, and if the slope of the tendon is the
same on either side, then the net bending moment applied to the
beam at that location is zero.
• The only unbalanced load is the vertical force resulting from the
change of tendon slope. This passes directly into the support.
• In such a case, the tendon may be raised to the maximum
eccentricity permitted by requirements of concrete cover,
maximizing the sag y in the adjacent spans and minimizing the
prestress force required to carry the specified load.
• At the simply supported ends, the requirement of zero eccentricity
must be retained.
• At the free end of a cantilever beam (Fig.
4.18b), the steel eccentricity must be zero.
• The slope of the tendon there must match the
slope of the concrete centroid, usually zero.
• In Fig. 4.18b, it is unlikely that the tendon
slope θl will equal the tendon slope θ2;
consequently, if the prestress force Pl is the
same as P2, a net moment at the right support
will result from prestressing.
• This could be avoided by using separate
tendons for each span, each with its own
value of prestress such that the horizontal
components balance.
Design Steps with Load Balancing Method
• In practice, the load-balancing method of design starts with
selection of a trial beam cross section, based on experience
and judgment.
• An appropriate span-depth ratio is often applied.
• The tendon profile is selected using the maximum available
eccentricity, and the prestress force is calculated focussing on
load balancing concept.
• The trial design may then be checked to ensure that concrete
stresses are within the allowable limits should the live load be
totally absent or fully in place, when bending stresses will be
superimposed on the axial compressive stresses.
• There is no assurance that the section will be adequate for
these load stages, nor that adequate strength will be provided
should the member be overloaded.
• Revision may be necessary.
• Obtaining a uniform compressive concrete stress at
the balanced load stage does not ensure that the
member will have zero deflection at this stage.
• The reason for this is that the uniform stress
distribution is made up of two parts: that from the
eccentric prestress force and that from the external
loads.
• The prestress force varies with time because of
shrinkage, creep, and relaxation, changing the vertical
deflection associated with the prestress force.
• Concurrently, the beam will experience creep
deflection under the combined effects of the
diminishing prestress force and the external loads, a
part of which may be sustained and a part of which
may be short-term.
• If load balancing is carried out based on the effective
prestress force Pe plus self-weight and external dead
load only, the result may be near-zero deflection for
that combination.
• The load-balancing method provides the engineer
with a useful tool.
• For simple spans, it leads the designer to choose a
sensible tendon profile and focuses attention very
early on the matter of deflection.
• But the most important advantages become evident
in the design of indeterminate prestressed members,
including both continuous beams and two-way slabs.
• For such cases, at least for one unique loading, the
member carries only axial compression but no
bending. This greatly simplifies the analysis.
EXAMPLE: Beam Design Initiating With Load
Balancing
A post-tensioned beam is to be designed to carry
a uniformly distributed load over a 30-ft span. In
addition to its own weight, it must carry a dead
load of 150 plf and a service live load of 600 plf.
Concrete strength of 4,000 psi will be attained at
28 days; at time of transfer of prestress force, the
strength will be 3,000 psi. Prestress loss may be
assumed at 20 percent of Pi. On the basis that
about one quarter of the live load will be sustained
over a substantial time period, kb of 0.25 will be
used in determining the balanced load.
 4.7 FLEXURAL DESIGN BASED ON PARTIAL
PRESTRESSING

• There is a distinct trend in current design

practice toward the use of partially prestressed
beams, in which flexural tensile cracking is
permitted in the concrete in the service load
stage or for occasional overloads.
• Cracks are usually small and well distributed,
and normally close completely when the load
that produced them is removed.
• The condition of no tension is never attained in
a prestressed structure.
• If combined effects including shear or
torsion are taken into account, the
calculated principal stresses usually exceed
the tensile strength of the concrete.
• In regions of concentrated loads, load
transfer, or anchorage of tendons, tensile
stresses cannot be avoided.
• In most cases, a structure is prestressed
in only one direction, so that in the
transverse direction it acts as ordinary
reinforced concrete.
• In view of these facts, it is hard to justify a
requirement for no flexural cracking.
 Advantages of Partial Prestressing
• A smaller prestress force will be required, permitting
reduction in the number of tendons and anchorages. The
necessary flexural strength may be provided in such cases
either by a combination of prestressed tendons and non-
prestressed reinforcing bars, or by an adequate number of
high-tensile tendons prestressed to a level lower than the
permitted limit. In some cases, a combination of stressed
and unstressed tendons is used.
• Since the prestressing force is smaller, the size of the
bottom flange, which is required mainly to resist the
compression when a beam is in the unloaded stage, can
be reduced or eliminated altogether. This leads in turn to
significant simplification and cost reduction in the
construction of forms, as well as resulting in structures that
are more pleasing esthetically.
• By relaxing the requirement for little or no service
load tension in the concrete, a significant
improvement can be made in the deflection
characteristics of a beam.
• Troublesome upward camber in the unloaded
stage can be avoided, and the prestress force
selected primarily to produce the desired
deflection for a particular loading condition.
• The behavior of partially prestressed beams,
should they be overloaded to failure, is apt to be
superior to that of fully prestressed beams,
because the improved ductility provides ample
warning of distress.
 FLEXURAL DESIGN BASED ON PARTIAL
PRESTRESSING
• The present ACI Code permits tensile stress in the
concrete of 6(fc’)0.5 at full service load.
• This is slightly below the usual modulus of rupture.
• No cracking should occur if the tension is limited to this
value, and the design methods presented earlier are fully
applicable.
• The Code also permits flexural tension as high as 12(fc’)0.5
at full service load, provided that deflection calculations
accounting for the cracked section confirm that deflections
are within specified limits and that normal concrete cover
requirements are increased by 50 percent.
• This tensile stress is above the modulus of rupture, so
flexural cracks can be expected. A partially prestressed
beam design results.
 A. STRENGTH APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF
PARTIALLY PRESTRESSED BEAMS
• The first method for the design of a partially prestressed concrete beam
starts with provision of strength sufficient to resist hypothetical
overloads, which are calculated by applying overload factors to the
expected service dead and live loads.
• After the required concrete and steel areas are determined, an amount
of prestress force may be specified to produce a member with the
desired deflection or cracking properties.
• The stresses at service load may be considered almost irrelevant,
provided that all requirements of strength and serviceability are met.
• This is exactly analogous to the preferred design method for ordinary
reinforced concrete, by which the cross-sectional dimensions and
required reinforcement are found based on providing design strength
just equal to strength required at factored loads. After this, service load
deflections and cracking are investigated, and the design modified, if
necessary. Service load stresses are not usually calculated
 Design Steps
1. Find the required ultimate flexural strength Mu by applying
overload factors to the calculated dead loads and specified
service live loads. According to the usual specifications, the
nominal strength required of the member is Mn = Mu/Ф where Ф
is a capacity reduction factor equal to 0.90 for bending.
2. A trial depth is assumed for the concrete section based on
maximum span-depth ratio or experience. Top flange dimensions
may be based on functional requirements or other criteria.
3. The internal lever arm z is assumed equal to the distance from
the steel centroid to the mid depth of the flange or, in the case of
a rectangular section, equal to 0.80h.
4. If the steel stress at failure is taken to be 0.90fpu then the required
area of tendon is
5. Assuming for design purposes that the actual concrete
stress distribution can be replaced by an equivalent
rectangular stress block at uniform stress intensity 0.85fc',
the required area of compression concrete is

This gives the required area of the top flange, after

making allowance for the contribution, if any, of the web
area in compression. The trial section is modified if
necessary.
6. The web width can now be chosen based on shear
strength requirements or the practical need for concrete
cover for tendons and other steel.
7. The amount of prestress force is chosen to produce
the desired deflection characteristics for the member.
8. A criterion of zero deflection under the combined
effects of prestress and partial service load (often full
dead load) may be selected.
9. Flexural tensile stress in the concrete at full service
load is then checked, and if it exceeds the modulus of
rupture significantly, crack widths should be checked
using either of the two methods of next Section 4.8.
10. Analysis of the stresses in the cracked elastic section
can be done using the method of Section 3.10.
11. In some cases, non-prestressed reinforcing bars may
be added specifically for crack control.
 EXAMPLE: Design Based on Strength
Requirements and Partial Prestressing
A beam having a T cross section is to be
designed to carry a service live load of 1,200 plf
and superimposed dead load of 400 plf in
addition to its own weight, on an 80-ft simple
span. The member will be post-tensioned using
tendons composed of Grade 250 stranded cable.
Concrete strength at 28 days is specified to be
5,000 psi. A partially prestressed design based
on strength will be adopted, with the additional
requirement that zero deflection is to be obtained
under full service dead load.
FIGURE 4.20 Partial prestress design example, (a) Beam profile, (b)
Idealized section, (c) Final section.
 SOLUTION
• A trial member depth of one-twentieth of the
span, or 4 ft, will be selected.
• Functional requirements dictate a flange width
of 70 in. having an average thickness of 6 in.
• Anticipated requirements for ducts and
anchorages, as well as requirements for web
reinforcement lead to a choice of 14 in. web
width.
• The trial section, shown in Fig. 4.20(b), has
the following properties:
• The dead and live load moments are:
• The internal lever arm at ultimate load may be assumed
equal to the distance between the steel centroid and the mid
depth of the compression flange.
• Anticipating the use of two tendons arranged vertically, with
appropriate clearance and concrete cover, the steel centroid
will be placed 8 in. from the bottom face of the beam at
midspan. Thus, the internal lever arm is
Z = d - 8 - df /2

• From Eq. (4.29) the tentative steel area required is

•
• Two tendons will be used, each composed of twelve Grade
250 strands of 0.600-in. nominal diameter (see Appendix
B), providing an area of 5.20 in2.
• Check of the sheath diameter, which is 3 in., confirms that
the proposed placement is satisfactory.
• The tendons will be draped to a parabolic profile with zero
eccentricity at the supports and will be grouted after
• stressing.

• From Eq. (4.30) the required compressive concrete area is

• The full 70-in. flange width may be considered effective;
hence, the depth of the stress block at ultimate load is
a = Ac/ / b

• The indicating that the revised internal lever arm is

Z = d - 8 - a/2

• No practical difference in required steel area

results.
• The stress in the steel at ultimate load may now be
estimated using the ACI approximate equation.
• With the actual steel ratio
ρp = Ap / bdp = 5.20/(70 x 40) = 0.00186, and

• γp = 0.40 for ordinary Grade 250 strands, from Eq. (3.21)

the steel stress at failure is

• This is within 6 percent of the value of 0.90 x 250 - 225 ksi assumed in
sizing the steel and no revision is needed.
• The amount of prestressing of the selected steel area
will now be determined based on the specification that
the full dead load of 1,450 plf will be balanced by the
uplift of the parabolic curved tendons.
• With sag y = d - 8 - c1 = 48.0 - 8.0 - 17.0 = 23.0 in.,
Eq. (4.27) gives

• If losses are assumed to be 15 percent, then

• The initial stress in the tendon is
fpi = Pi / Ap = 713 / 5.20 = 137 ksi
• According to the code, the permitted upper limit for standard
250 tendons with fpu 250 ksi and fpy = 213 ksi is 0.70 fpu = 175
ksi; the actual initial prestress is 78% of this allowed value.
• Use of lower value permits the desired zero deflection to be
attained at full dead load.
• To control cracking in the member prior to post-tensioning,
non-prestressed longitudinal bars will be added in an amount
equal to

As = 0.0018 Ag = 0.0018 x (14 x 48 + 6 x 56) = 1.81 in 2

Provided by 10 # 4 bars