PRESTRESSED

CONCRETE
DESIGN
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION
ENGR. MICHAEL L. NULLAS
REINFORCED CONCRETE
▪ Reinforced concrete (RC) is a composite material in
which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and
ductility are counteracted by the inclusion of
reinforcement having higher tensile strength or
ductility.
REINFORCED CONCRETE
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
▪ Prestressed Concrete is defined as a structural
concrete in which internal stresses have been
introduced to reduce potential tensile stressses in
concrete due to the imposed loads.
BASIC CONCEPT OF
PRESTRESSING
▪ preloading of a structure before the application of
the service loads so as to improve its general
performance in specific ways.
▪ 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.
BASIC CONCEPT OF
PRESTRESSING
OBJECTIVES RESULTS
Control or eliminate tensile Improved performance of
stresses in the concrete concrete in “ordinary” design
(Cracking) at least up to service Situations (compared to RC).
load levels.

Control or eliminate deflection Extended range of application

at some specific load level. of structural concrete
(Longer spans).

Allow the use of high strength Innovative forms of structures.

steel and concrete.
REINFORCE CONCRETE VS.
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
REINFORCED CONCRETE
tensile forces resulting from the
bending moments are resisted by
the bond created in the
reinforcement
cracking and deflection
irrecoverable once the member
has reached its limit state at
service load
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
permanent stresses in the
member are created before the
full dead and live loads are
applied in order to eliminate or
considerably reduce the net
tensile stresses caused by these
load
if the flexural tensile strength of
the concrete is exceeded, the
prestressed member starts to act
like an reinforced concrete
element
 METHODS OF PRESTRESSING
▪ PRE-TENSIONING - where the prestress tendons were tensioned before
the concrete was placed. After the concrete had hardened sufficiently,
the tendons were cut and the prestress force was transmitted to the
concrete by bond. This method is particularly well suited for mass
production because the casting beds can be constructed several hundred
feet long. The tendons can be run for the entire bed lengths and used for
casting several beams in a line at the same time.
▪ POST-TENSIONING - the tendons are stressed after the concrete is placed
and has gained the desired strength. Plastic or metal tubes, conduits,
sleeves, or similar devices with unstressed tendons inside (or later
inserted) are located in the form and the concrete is placed. After the
concrete has sufficiently hardened, the tendons are stretched and
mechanically attached to end anchorage devices to keep the tendons in
their stretched positions.
 PRE-TENSIONING
▪ done at the fabrication plant
for production of precast
members
▪ tendons are tensioned first
before concrete is placed
▪ the concrete is cast around the
stressed tendon
▪ as the fresh concrete hardens,
it bonds to the steel
▪ when the concrete has
reached the required strength,
the jacking force is released
and the force is transferred by
bond from steel to concrete
PRE-TENSIONING SYSTEM
▪ HOYER SYSTEM (LONG LINE METHOD)
▪ used for mass production
▪ in this system, the end abutments are kept sufficient
distance apart, and several members are cast in a
single line
▪ the shuttering is provided at the sides and b/w the
members
▪ the end abutments have to be sufficiently stiff and
have good foundations
PRE-TENSIONING SYSTEM
▪ HOYER SYSTEM (LONG LINE METHOD)
PRE-TENSIONING SYSTEM
▪ HOYER SYSTEM (LONG LINE METHOD)
 POST-TENSIONING
▪ done at the construction
site for the construction
of cast-inplace members
▪ hollow conduits
containing the unstressed
tendons are placed in the
beam forms before
pouring the concrete
▪ the tendons are tensioned
after the concrete has
hardened and achieved
sufficient strength
POST-TENSIONING SYSTEM
▪ FREYSINNET
▪ the first post-tensioning method introduced by the French Engineer
Freyssinet
▪ in this system, high strength steel wires of 5mm or 7mm diameter,
numbering 8 or 12 or 16 or 24 are grouped into a cable with a helical
spring inside and a cable is inserted in the duct
▪ anchorage device consists of a concrete cylinder with a concentric conical
hole and corrugations on its surface, and a conical plug carrying grooves on
its surface where steel wires are carried along these grooves at the ends
▪ wires are pulled by Freyssinet double acting jacks which can pull through
suitable grooves all the wires in the cable at a time
▪ one end of the wires is anchored and the other end is pulled till the wires
are stretched to the required length
▪ an inner piston in the jack then pushes the plug into the cylinder to grip
the wires
MATERIALS OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE
1. HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE
▪ concrete used in PSC members is of higher strength
than that used for RC
▪ in practice, 28-day cylinder strength of 4 ksi to 8 ksi
(28 to 55 MPa) are required for PSC, although
strengths as high as 12 ksi (83 MPa) can be used
MATERIALS OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE
Reasons for the need of higher strength of concrete for
PSC:
▪ PSC members are usually subjected to higher forces,
and an increase in concrete quality generally leads to
more economical results (dimensions of member
cross-sections can be reduced to the minimum).
▪ Higher bond strength results in a reduction in the
development length required to transfer prestress
force from the cables to the concrete.
▪ High strength concrete has a higher modulus of
elasticity and smaller creep strain, resulting in
smaller loss of prestress.
MATERIALS OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE
2. STEEL TENDON
▪ the most commonly used steels for PSC has a
minimum tensile strength of 250 ksi or 270 ksi.
▪ the tendon is normally composed of groups of wires
which may consist of 8 to 52 individual wires in each
group depending on the particular system used and
the magnitude of prestress force required
COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ COLD-DRAWN
ROUND WIRES
▪ the individual wires
are manufactured
by hot-rolling steel
billets into round
rods
▪ after cooling, the
rods are passed
through dies to
reduce their
diameter to the
required size
COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ COLD-DRAWN
ROUND WIRES
▪ available in
Grade 235 (min.
ultimate strength
of 235,000 psi)
to Grade 250
(min. ultimate
strength of
250,000 psi)
COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ STRANDED CABLE
▪ fabricated with six
wires wound tightly
around a seventh of
slightly larger
diameter
▪ the same type of
cold-drawn stress-
relieved wire is
used in making
stranded cable as is
used for individual
prestressing wires
COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ STRANDED CABLE
▪ the strands may be
obtained in a range
of sizes from 0.25 in
to 0.60 in diameter
▪ the cable is stress-
relieved by heat
treatment after
stranding
▪ Available in Grade
250 to Grade 270
 COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ ALLOY STEEL BARS
▪ the high strength is
obtained by
introducing certain
alloying elements,
mainly manganese,
silicon and
chromium during
the manufacture of
the steel
 COMMON FORMS OF PSC
TENDONS:
▪ ALLOY STEEL BARS
▪ in addition, cold work
is done in making the
bars, further
increasing the
strength
▪ after cold-stretching,
the bars are stress-
relieved to obtain the
required properties
▪ available in Grade
145 and Grade 160
MATERIALS OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE
3. NON-PRESTRESSED REINFORCEMENT
▪ non-prestressed steel consists of bars, wires, and welded
wire fabric
▪ used for web reinforcement for diagonal tensile stress
▪ used to provide longitudinal bar steel to control shrinkage
and temperature cracking
▪ used to increase the flexural strength of prestressed
beams
▪ using supplementary longitudinal reinforcement
▪ available in Grades 40, 50, 60 (minimum yield strengths of
40,000 psi, 50,000 psi, 60,000 psi, respectively)
MATERIALS OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE
PRESTRESSING BED
ABUTMENTS
MOULDS
HYDRAULIC JACK
ANCHORING DEVICE
DUCTS
COUPLERS
GROUTING EQUIPMENT