PRESTRESSED

CONCRETE STRUCTURES
Reinforced concrete:
• Concrete is strong in compression weak in tension.

• Steel in 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.

Pre-stressed Concrete

• What is Pre-stressed Concrete?:

– Internal stresses are induced to counteract external
stresses.
– In 1904, Freyssinet attempted to
introduce permanent acting forces
in conc. to resist elastic forces
under loads and was named
“Pre stressing”.
Concept of pre-stressing:

 i . The concept of pre stressing was invented

invented years ago when metal
brands were wound
 around wooden pieces to form barrels.

 ii . The metal brands
were tighten under tensile stress which
creates compression between the
staves allowing them to resist internal
liquid pressure.
Principle of pre-stressing:
• Pre-stressing is a method in which compression force is applied to the
reinforced concrete section.
• The effect of pre stressing is to reduce the tensile stress in the section to the
point till the tensile stress is below the cracking stress. Thus the concrete
does not crack.
• It is then possible to treat concrete as a elastic material.
• The concrete can be visualized to have two compressive force
i . Internal pre-stressing force.
ii . External forces (d.l , l.l etc )
• These two forces must counteract each other.
Principle of Pre-stressing:

• Stress in concrete when pre stressing is applied at the c.g of the section
Principle of Pre-stressing:

• Stress in concrete when pre stressing is applied eccentrically

with respect to the c.g of the section .
Pre-stressed Concrete: Methods

• There are two basic methods of applying pre-stress to a

concrete member

– Pre-tensioning – most often used in factory situations

– Post-tensioning – site use

Types of pre-stressing:
I . Pre-tensioning 
In Pre-tension, the tendons are tensioned against some
abutments before the concrete is place. After the concrete
hardened, the tension force is released. The tendon tries to
shrink back to the initial length but the concrete resists it
through the bond between them, thus, compression force is
induced in concrete. Pretension is usually done with precast
members
II . Post tensioning
• In Post tension, the tendons are tensioned after the
concrete has hardened. Commonly, metal or plastic
ducts are placed inside the concrete before casting.
After the concrete hardened and had enough strength,
the tendon was placed inside the duct, stressed, and
anchored against concrete. Grout may be injected into
the duct later. This can be done either as precast or
cast-in-place.
Post tensioning
Advantages:
•Take full advantages of high strength concrete
and high strength steel
•Need less materials
•Smaller and lighter structure
•No cracks
•Use the entire section to resist the load
•Better corrosion resistance
•Good for water tanks and nuclear plant
•Very effective for deflection control
•Better shear resistance
Disadvantages compared to RC:
• Need higher quality materials
• More complex technically
• More expensive
• Harder to re-cycle
Application:
•Bridges
•Slabs in buildings
•Water Tank
•Concrete Pile
•Thin Shell Structures
•Offshore Platform
•Nuclear Power Plant
•Repair and Rehabilitations
 Definition:
• Prestress is defined as a method of applying
pre-compression to control the stresses
resulting due to external loads below the
neutral axis of the beam tension developed
due to external load which is more than the
permissible limits of the plain concrete.
Compressive stresses in concrete caused by pre
stressing force F

Stresses caused due to applied loads

(without pre stressing)
 Basic Concept
• Prestressed concrete is basically concrete in
which internal stresses of a suitable
magnitude and distribution are introduced so
that the stresses resulting from the external
loads are counteracted to a desired degree.
• Tendon: A stretched element used in a
concrete member of structure to impart
prestress to the concrete.
• Anchorage: A device generally used to enable
the tendon to impart and maintain prestress
in concrete.
• Pretensioning: A method of prestressing
concrete in which the tendons are tensioned
before the concrete is placed. In this method,
the concrete is introduced by bond between
steel & concrete.
• Post-tensioning: A method of prestressing
concrete by tensioning the tendons against
hardened concrete. In this method, the
prestress is imparted to concrete by bearing.
 Advantage of Prestressed
Concrete
• Lighter and slender members
• Free from tenslie loads, thus whole section is
effective.
• Capable to carry eccentric loads
• Free from cracks
• Factory products are possible.
• Prestressed members are tested before use.
• Fatigue strength is better.
• Defection controlled.
• Smaller cross – section
• Improved resistance to repeating loads.
• Possibility to connect prefabricated members.
 Disadvantages of Prestressed
Concrete
• The availability of experienced builders is
scanty.
• Initial equipment cost is very high.
• Availability of experienced engineers is scanty.
• Prestressed sections are brittle
• Prestressed concrete sections are less fire
resistant
Stages of Prestressed Concrete
Pre tensoning
Post-tensoning
 Secondary categories
• External Prestressing
• Internal Prestressing
• Linear Prestressing
• Circular Prestressing
• Full Prestressing
• Limited Prestressing
• Partial Prestressing
• Uniaxial Prestressing
• Biaxial Prestressing
• Biaxial Prestressing
 Sources of Prestressing Force
• Mechanical devices
• Hydraulic devices
• Electrical devices
• Chemical devices
 Materials for prestressing
• Prestressing bed
• End abutments
• Shuttering / mould
• Jack
• Anchoring device
• Harping device (optional)
 Pretension Vs Post-tensioned
Member
Pretension member
1. In pretensioned prestress concrete,
steel is tensioned prior to that of
concrete. It is released once the
concrete is placed and hardened.
The stresses are transferred all along
the wire by means of bond.
2. Suitable for short span and precast
products like sleepers, electric poles on
mass production.
3. In pretensioning the cables are
basically straight and horizontal.
4. Prestress losses are more compare to
that of post-tensioned concrete.
Post-tensioned member
1. Concreting is done first then wires are
tensioned and anchored at ends.
The stress transfer is by end bearing not
by bond.
2. Suitable for long span bridges
3. The post tensioning cables can be
aligned in any manner like curved or
inclined cables can have vertical
component at ends.
4. Losses are less compare to pre-
tensioned concrete
 Losses in prestress
• The initial prestressing concrete undergoes a
gradual reduction with time from the stages
of transfer due to various causes. This is
generally defined as total “Loss of Prestress”.
 Types of losses in prestress
• Pretensioning
1. Elastic deformation of concrete
2. Relaxation of stress in steel
3. Shrinkage of concrete
4. Creep of concrete
• Post-tensioning
1. No loss due to elastic deformation if all wires are
simultaneously tensioned. If the wires are successively
tensioned, there will be loss of prestress due to elastic
deformation of concrete.
2. Relaxation of stress in steel
3. Shrinkage of concrete
4. Creep of concrete
5. Friction
6. Anchorage slip
THANK YOU