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What is Pre-stressed Concrete? How Does It Work?

Mithun Ray

Pre-stressed concrete is a form of concrete where initial compression is given in the

concrete before applying the external load so that stress from external loads are
counteracted in the desired way during the service period. This initial compression is
introduced by high strength steel wire or alloys (called ‘tendon’) located in the concrete
section.

Why is Pre-stressed Concrete Required?

Now, the question is, why we need this complexity?
Okay, before get started let’s go back to some basics first. We know, concrete is good at
compression but very weak in tension. And so we see after external loading, in the bottom part of
concrete, a tension zone occurred. So, it tries to be elongated and guess what? It cracks. This is
why we add some steel bars at the bottom section so that it can resist most of the tension and
save concrete from cracking. This is our traditional RC structure. But what about some
megastructures with larger beam span? Think about a flyover or famous Gateway Bridge in
Australia, Incheon Bridge in South Korea or Ringhals nuclear reactor in Sweden where external
loading is very high.
In the way of traditional RC structure, for these larger beam spans, we should provide larger depth
which is often too much that, for a bridge over a river, there will be no enough space under the
bridge for ships to pass it. Here comes this new concept--- Pre-stressed concrete. The concept of
prestressed concrete is not so difficult. In fact, the practice of prestressing things is very older in
our day to day life. Imagine a barrel made of wooden staves and metal bands. Tung-Yen Lin, a civil
engineering professor at the University of California, explained it in the introductory chapter of his
book “Design of Prestressed Concrete Structures".

The basic principle of prestressing was applied to construction, perhaps centuries ago, when
ropes or metal bands were wound around the wooden staves to form a barrel (see Figure 1).
When the bands were tightened, they were under tensile prestress, which in turn created
compressive prestress between the staves and enabled them to resist hoop tension produced

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by internal liquid pressure. In other words, the bands and the staves were prestressed before
they were subjected to any service loads.
T.Y. Lin

Like this, in prestressed concrete, initial compression is given to be balanced by future loading that
will create tension.

How Pre-Stressed Concrete works?

[Image source: Wikipedia]

So by now, I have had our concept. We have learned why and when we should use prestressed
concrete. So, how does it work? In the real life, high tensile strength steel wires are inserted into
the beam section and they are stretched and anchored, then released. Now the steel tendon wants
to gain its original length and tensile stresses are transformed into a compressive stress in
the concrete. Now after loading there are two kinds of forces on the beam,

1. Internal prestressing force

2. External forces (Dead load, Live load etc.)

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Which must counteract each other. Observing the moment diagram, we will find something like this

[Image source: ptsindia.net]

Pre-Stressed Concrete Materials

According to AASHTO, high strength seven wire strand, high strength steel wire or alloys of grade
and type (as specified by the designer) should be used in prestressed concrete. Also, stronger
concrete is required in prestressed than normal RC. Generally, minimum 28-day cylinder strength
of 5000 psi concrete must be used. So, why this high strength concrete? Well, if the concrete is not
strong enough, it can be cracked or failed when it is stressed by tendons. As well as high
compressive strength offers higher resistance to tension and shear and so it is desirable for
prestressed concrete.

Moreover, high strength concrete is less subjected to shrinkage crack. It has a higher modulus of
elasticity and smaller creep strain. As a result, loss of prestressing is small.

Pre-Stressed Concrete Materials [Image source: journal paper from www.mdpi.com]

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https://civiltoday.com/civil-engineering-materials/concrete/241-types-of-pre-stressed-concrete

Types of Pre-stressed Concrete

According to the construction method, there are two kinds of prestressed concrete:

I. Pre-tensioned concrete
II. Bonded Post-tensioned concrete. 
III. Unbonded Post-tensioned concrete

Pre-tensioned Concrete
In this method, wires or tendons are tensioned at first and concrete is poured later. It creates a
good bondage between the tendon and concrete. As a result, the tendons are protected from
corrosion and tensions are transferred directly. Tendons are anchored and stretched and the
stress is transferred to the concrete when it is hard. Then the tendon tries to get back to the
original length, but resisted by the bond between the concrete hence it induces compressive force
in it.

Pre-tensioned Concrete [Image source: Google]

Bonded Post-tensioned Concrete

Similar to pre-stressing but here concrete is poured first then tendons are tensioned. Tendons are
placed at suitable places in the member and then casting is done. After the concrete becomes
hard, the tendons are tensioned by hydraulic jacks against the concrete. When the tendons have
tensioned sufficiently, according to design, they are fixed in position. After the jacks are removed,
tension remains and it transfers pressure to the concrete. This method is widely used
in building monolithic slabs for mega house construction projects where expansive soil sometimes
creates problems. Moreover, post-tensioned concrete is also used in bridges.

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 Pre-tensioning Cables [Image source: Wikimedia Commons]

Unbonded Post-tensioned Concrete

It is little different from bonded post-tensioned concrete. It allows freedom to move the cables. For
this, each tendon is coated with grease and covered by plastic. Stress transfer to the concrete is
achieved by the cables through anchors. There are some advantages to this like-

a. The ability to distress tendons before trying to repair work.

b. The ability to individually adjust cables

Also, there are some disadvantages like if damaged, one or more than cable can be distress itself
and burst out of the slab. 

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https://civiltoday.com/civil-engineering-materials/concrete/226-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-prestressed-
concrete

Advantages and Disadvantages of Prestressed Concrete

Mithun Ray

Prestressed concrete is the most durable, reliable and strongest concrete that is widely used for
the construction of mega buildings and bridges. It has made significant contributions to the
construction industry, the precast manufacturing industry, and the cement industry.

Advantages of Prestressed Concrete

Followings are the advantages of prestressed concrete:

 Longer span length increases untroubled floor space and parking facilities.
 Thinner slabs, that are important for high rise building as with the same amount of cost, it
can construct more slabs than traditional thicker slabs. 
 As the span length is larger, fewer joints are needed than traditional RC structures. 
 Because of fewer joints, maintenance cost also becomes reduced during the design life as
joints are the major locus of weakness in a concrete building.
 Long-term Durability. 
 Better finishing of placed concrete. 
 It requires a smaller amount of construction materials. 
 It resists stresses are higher than normal RCC structures and is free from cracks.

Disadvantages of Prestressed Concrete

Followings are the disadvantages of prestressed concrete:

 It requires high strength concrete and high tensile strength steel wires.

 The main disadvantage is construction requires additional special equipment like jacks,
anchorage, etc. 
 It requires highly skilled workers under skilled supervision. 
 Construction cost is little higher than RCC structures.

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