06/07/2020

Concrete
■ Concrete has good compressive strength but negligible tensile
strength

PRESTRESSED
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
CONCRETE
Hiran Yapa
Civil Engineering Department
University of Peradeniya

Contd…
Content ■ When a concrete structure is subjected to flexure…

■ PC fundamentals
■ Simply supported PC design
■ Reinforcement is needed to provide tensile strength
■ Composite PC design
■ This type of use is called reinforced concrete (RC)
■ Statically indeterminate PC design
■ Still however cracking of concrete in the tensile region of RC is
■ PC slab design
inevitable
■ So, durability, appearance, deflection are (serviceability)
concerns.

2 4

hdy 1
 06/07/2020

Origination of prestressed concrete (PC) PC beams

■ If concrete could be compressed by an external load, cracking can be
reduced or eliminated.

■ Prestressing of reinforcement is a potential option

■ However, the early attempts were not successful!
■ Because the applied steel prestress got revealed through long term
effects of creep and shrinkage of concrete
■ This was overcome later by using high strength steel and high strength
concrete.

5 7

Composite construction
PC applications

Compression
Beam Composite Segmental In-situ
members

Continuous
beams

Slabs

6 8

hdy 2
 06/07/2020

Segmental PC construction Compression PC members

9 11

In-situ PC construction
External prestressing is also possible

10 12

hdy 3
 06/07/2020

Concept
w
Concept of prestressing
P Pe
P P

+ +

13 15

Axial prestressing Eccentric

prestressing Stress due to prestress

Stress due to prestress

and loading

14 16

hdy 4
 06/07/2020

Pros and cons Cons

Pros
■ Possibility of using slender
sections
■ Complexity of design
■ Self-weight reduction ■ Complexity of production
■ Low deflection
■ No/less cracking, hence
better appearance and
durability
X ■ Demand for high quality material and technology
■ Concerns of safety

■ better quality control during

production, etc.
Cons
17 19

Methods of
20
prestressing

Pre-tension Post-tension
PC
sections

back

18

hdy 5
 06/07/2020

Pre-tensioning Prestress transfer

■ Steel tendons are tensioned
between permanent/fixed end-
anchorages ■ stage when prestress force in the reinforcement is passed into the
■ Then, PC concrete members are concrete
cast so that the stressed steel is – In pre-tensioned
through.
■ happens when stressed steel is cut-off from the bed abutments
■ Once the concrete has hardened
sufficiently, the tendon external – In post-tensioned
to the concrete unit is released ■ happens as the steel is being stressed
(cut),
■ The tendon force is thereby
transferred to the concrete via
the bond between the steel and
the concrete.

21 23

Post-tensioning Pre-tensioned vs. post-tensioned

■ Tendons are pulled through ducts
which are placed along the beam
■ Pre-tensioned approach is ideal to produce large number of similar
■ Concrete is pored
units with high level of quality control at an off-site prestressing bed
■ Upon hardening of concrete, the
tendons are tensioned ■ Member length is not an issue with the production, but is a concern
on transportation
■ Force is transferred to the concrete
via built-in anchorages ■ Post-tensioned units can be produced at the site, the length is
■ Space between the tendon and the therefore not an issue
duct can be grout injected
■ Design process is more flexible for the post-tensioning approach.
■ It will protect the reinforcement from
corrosion and also enhance the
ultimate flexural capacity via bond.

22 24

hdy 6
 06/07/2020

Load balancing technique If the cable profile is parabolic

(for post-tensioned) 1 ⁄
For a function , = ⁄
Drape 1+ ⁄

( − )
Parabolic function =4

For a reasonably flat parabolic profile…

1
≈ = −8

8 with the assumption of force everywhere in the cable

Since = =−
is equivalent to prestress force

Hence, due to parabolic cable with prestress force of P and a drape of e, upward udl ( ) applied on the beam is,
8
=−
25 27

P sin
P
P
P cos

Via the equilibrium of a ∆ portion of the cable when

the force at each end is T ∆
2 sin = ∆
2
.
Since is small

1 where is the radius of curvature

But =

ℎ
=

26 28

hdy 7
 06/07/2020

Stress analysis for parabolic profiles

Steel: wires and strands

■ Wires ■ Strands
– 4 mm – 8 mm – 12.7 mm – 18 mm
– Single wire
Instead… – Indentations
′
+ + +

′ because of ( − )

( )
e.g. =

29 31

Materials
Properties of high-tensile steel

High-strength Maximum stressing force

High-tensile steel concrete

30 32

hdy 8
 06/07/2020

Example 1
Typical strand parameters

Ans: 10.425 MPa and 5.925 MPa

33 35

Prestressing devices

Anchors

Ducts

Jacks

34 36

hdy 9