Civil Engineering

Department

Prestressed Concrete
Preliminaries
Fawad Muzaffar
M.Sc. Structures (Stanford University)
Ph.D. Structures (Stanford University)

Why Do We Need to Prestress?

Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension

Tensile Strength of Concrete is 8 to 14 % of Compressive Strength

Flexural Cracks Develop Early
Can be counteracted by application of compressive stresses
Prestressing allows optimal utilization of compressive stresses in
concrete

Some Examples

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Materials
Concrete
Qualities of Interest Strength , Endurance
Categories of Concrete Properties
i. Short Term Properties Compressive, Tensile and Shear
Strength, Modulus of Elasticity
ii. Long Term Properties Creep and Shrinkage

Compressive Strength,
Depends on Mix Design, Aggregate Properties, Time and Quality of
Curing.
Varies from 4,000 to 12,000 psi (can be as high as 20,000 psi)
Determined using 6 in 12 in Cylindrical Specimens

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Materials
Tensile Strength,
Difficult to measure because of gripping problems
Brazilian or Splitting Cylinder Test
For flexural members, Modulus of Rupture is used instead of
is obtained by lateral loading of 6 in square beams of 18 in span
at their third points
0.10 0.20

= 7.5 (Normal Weight); = 0.75 7.5 (Light Weight)

= 0.85 7.5 (Sand-Light Weight)

Shear Strength:
Difficult to measure, because it is difficult to isolate shear effects from
other stresses

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Materials
From literature, Shear Strength varies from 20 to 85 % of
depending on loading conditions

Shear Strength:
Difficult to Measure, because it is Difficult to Isolate Shear Effects from
other Stresses
Shear Strength Rarely
Controls Design

Typical Stress
Strain Curves of
Concrete
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Materials
Modulus of Elasticity,
Tangent Modulus:
Initial Tangent Slope
Secant Modulus:
Slope of Line Connecting a
Certain Point (Usually 0.4 ) to
origin.
For Light Weight Concrete, ACI
Building Code gives

For Normal Weight Concrete

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Materials
Creep:
Definition: Increase in compressive strain with sustained compressive
Load
An example of the relative numerical values

Stress Strain relationship for short

Term loading lose significance with time.
Creep Recovery
Note:
Concrete resistant to shrinkage is
also presents a low creep tendency
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Materials
Shrinkage:
Two types of shrinkage effects exist
i. Plastic Shrinkage
Occurs during the first few hours of placing the concrete in
forms
Associated with
ii. Drying Shrinkage
Occurs after the concrete has already attained its final set.
Represents Moving of Water In and Out of Concrete
Swelling
Increase in volume of concrete due to hydration of concrete
Loss of volume due to shrinkage is not completely reversible

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Materials
Non-Prestressing Reinforcement
Parameters of Interest

Typical Reinforcement Used are Grade 40, 60 and 75 steels.

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Materials
Prestressing Reinforcement
Three types of Prestressing Reinforcement Exists.

Stress-Relieved and Low Relaxation Wires and Strands

7-wire strands are made by twisting 6 cold-drawn wires around a
single slightly larger control wire.
The assembly of wires can be drawn through a die to compact the
strand to maximize steel area.

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Materials
Typical Stress-Strain Plots

Steel Relaxation
Decrease in tensile steel stress due to constant tensile steel strain

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Materials

Low Relaxation Steel: Strands that are Stabilized by stretching to upto

70% of their ultimate strength at 20 to 100 0C has a relaxation loss that is
25% of the normal stress-relieved strands. These strands are known as
Low Relaxation Strands.

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Prestressing Systems and Anchorages

Pretensioning:
What is Pretensioning?

Hold Down Devices For Harped Profile

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Prestressing Systems and Anchorages

Posttensioning:
What is Post Tensioning?

Jacking Systems:
Typical Capacity: 10 to 500 Tons
Stroke Length: 6 to 48 in
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Prestressing Systems and Anchorages

A 500 Ton Jack:

Anchoring Systems:

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Prestressing Systems and Anchorages

Ducts:
Placed in concrete to form cavities in post-tensioned members.

Duct Size: For Tendons, the duct area should be at least twice the net area
of prestressing steel.
Grout Openings or Vents: Vents should exist at both ends.
For draped profiles, all high points should have a
grout vent.
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Prestressing Systems and Anchorages

Grout vents or drain holes should be
provided at low points if post tensioning is
to be done in freezing climate.

Placement of Ducts:
Ducts should be securely fastened at close intervals to avoid
displacement during concreting.
Holes in ducts must be repaired prior to placement of concrete.

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The Ten Principles

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The Ten Principles

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