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Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can
be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with
ordinary reinforced concrete. Prestressing tendons (generally of high tensile steel cable or rods)
are used to provide a clamping load which produces a compressive stress that balances
the tensile stress that the concrete compression member would otherwise experience due to a
bending load. Traditional reinforced concrete is based on the use of steel reinforcement
bars, rebars, inside poured concrete. Prestressing can be accomplished in three ways: pretensioned concrete, and bonded or unbonded post-tensioned concrete.
Contents
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1 Pre-tensioned concrete
2 Bonded post-tensioned concrete
o 2.1 History of problems with bonded post-tensioned bridges
3 Unbonded post-tensioned concrete
4 Applications
5 Design agencies and regulations
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Pre-tensioned concrete[edit]
Pre-tensioned concrete is cast around steel tendonscables or barswhile they are under
tension. The concrete bonds to the tendons as it cures, and when the tension is released it is
transferred to the concrete as compression by static friction. Tension subsequently imposed on
the concrete is transferred directly to the tendons.
Pre-tensioning requires strong, stable anchoring points between which the tendons are to be
stretched. Thus, most pre-tensioned concrete elements are prefabricated and transported to the
construction site, which may limit their size. Pre-tensioned elements may be incorporated
into beams, balconies, lintels, floor slabs or piles. An innovative bridge design pre-stressing is
the stressed ribbon bridge.
Post-tensioning is also used in the construction of various bridges, both after concrete is cured
after support by falsework and by the assembly of prefabricated sections, as in the segmental
bridge.
Among the advantages of this system over unbonded post-tensioning are:
The ability to individually adjust cables based on poor field conditions (For example: shifting
a group of 4 cables around an opening by placing 2 on each side).
The procedure of post-stress grouting is eliminated.
The ability to de-stress the tendons before attempting repair work.[3]
Picture number one (below) shows rolls of post-tensioning (PT) cables with the holding end
anchors displayed. The holding end anchors are fastened to rebar placed above and below the
cable and buried in the concrete locking that end. Pictures numbered two, three and four shows
a series of black pulling end anchors from the rear along the floor edge form. Rebar is placed
above and below the cable both in front and behind the face of the pulling end anchor. The
above and below placement of the rebar can be seen in picture number three and the placement
of the rebar in front and behind can be seen in picture number four. The blue cable seen in
picture number four is electrical conduit. Picture number five shows the plastic sheathing stripped
from the ends of the post-tensioning cables before placement through the pulling end
anchors. Picture number six shows the post-tensioning cables in place for concrete pouring. The
plastic sheathing has been removed from the end of the cable and the cable has been pushed
through the black pulling end anchor attached to the inside of the concrete floor side form. The
greased cable can be seen protruding from the concrete floor side form. Pictures seven and
eight show the post-tension cables protruding from the poured concrete floor. After the concrete
floor has been poured and has set for about a week, the cable ends will be pulled with a
hydraulic jack.
Applications[edit]
Prestressed concrete is the main material for floors in high-rise buildings and the entire
containment vessels of nuclear reactors.
Unbonded post-tensioning tendons are commonly used in parking garages as barrier
cable.[4] Also, due to its ability to be stressed and then de-stressed, it can be used to temporarily
repair a damaged building by holding up a damaged wall or floor until permanent repairs can be
made.
The advantages of prestressed concrete include crack control and lower construction costs;
thinner slabsespecially important in high rise buildings in which floor thickness savings can
translate into additional floors for the same (or lower) cost and fewer joints, since the distance
that can be spanned by post-tensioned slabs exceeds that of reinforced constructions with the
same thickness. Increasing span lengths increases the usable unencumbered floorspace in
buildings; diminishing the number of joints leads to lower maintenance costs over the design life
of a building, since joints are the major focus of weakness in concrete buildings.
The first prestressed concrete bridge in North America was the Walnut Lane Memorial
Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was completed and opened to traffic in
1951.[5] Prestressing can also be accomplished on circular concrete pipes used for water
transmission. High tensile strength steel wire is helically-wrapped around the outside of the pipe
under controlled tension and spacing which induces a circumferential compressive stress in the
core concrete. This enables the pipe to handle high internal pressures and the effects of external
earth and traffic loads.
Rules for the detailing of reinforcement and prestressing tendons are provided in Section 8 of the
European standard EN 1992-2:2005 Eurocode 2: Design of concrete structures Concrete
bridges: design and detailing rules.
In Australia the code of practice used to design reinforced and prestressed concrete is AS 36002009.
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Prestressed
concrete.
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Ed Davey and Rebecca Cafe (3 December 2012). "TfL report warned of
Hammersmith Flyover collapse risk". BBC News, London. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
2. Jump up^ How is Unbonded Post Tensioning Made?
3. Jump up^ Detensioning Unbonded Post-Tension Tendons
4. Jump up^ Barrier Cable
5. Jump up^ Cement & Concrete Basics: Prestressed Concrete | Portland Cement Association
(PCA)
6. Jump up^ PTA Homepage