CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

CE-505: Prestressed Concrete Design

M. Engg. (Civil), Fall 2016
Lecture 01-02: Introduction

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Course Outline
Basic concepts of prestressed concrete, Systems of
prestressing, materials. Partial prestressing,
prestress losses. Use of high strength concrete.
Structural behaviour of Beams for Elastic and
Ultimate ranges for Bending and Shear. Moment
curvature relationship, Camber and deflections.
Detailed design of simple and continuous beams for
Service and Ultimate loads. Design of End
Anchorages. Determination of Cable layout.
Construction techniques. Precast and in-situ prestressed concrete members. Applications to special
structures.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Recommended Books
Nilson, A. H. (1987). Design of Prestressed
Concrete. John Wiley & Sons
Nawy, E. G. (2010). Prestressed Concrete: A
Fundamental Approach, Fifth Edition. Prentice
Hall
Naaman, A. E. (2012). Prestressed Concrete
Analysis and Design: Fundamentals, Third Edition.
Techno Press 3000

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Evaluation & Assessment

Sessional evaluation

(40 marks)

Assignments (10)
Mid-term test (10)
Final test (10)
Presentation (10)

Final exam

(60 marks)

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Introduction
Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension.
Flexural cracks develop at early stages of loading.
In order to reduce or prevent such cracks from developing, a
concentric or eccentric force is applied in the longitudinal direction
of the structural element.
This force prevents the cracks by eliminating or considerably
reducing tensile stresses at critical sections thus raising the
capacities.

Such an imposed longitudinal force is called prestressing force, a

compressive force that prestresses the sections along the span of
the structural element prior to the application of the transverse
gravity dead and live loads.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Introduction
Linear Prestressing
Since the prestressing force is applied longitudinally along
or parallel to the axis of the member, the prestressing
principle involved is commonly known as linear
prestressing.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Introduction
Circular Prestressing
Used in liquid containment tanks, pipes, and pressure reactor
vessels, essentially follows the same basic principles as linear
prestressing. The circumferential hoop stress on the cylindrical
or spherical structure, neutralizes the tensile stresses at the
outer fibres of the curvilinear surface caused by the internal
pressure.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Comparison with Reinforced Concrete

In prestressed concrete, permanent stresses are created in
the structural member before the application of full dead
and live loads.
The objective is to reduce or eliminate the net tensile
stressed caused by these loads.
In reinforced concrete, net tensile strength is neglected.
Tensile forces resulting from bending are resisted by bond
created in reinforcement process.
Cracking and deflection are irrecoverable in RC once the
member has reached its limit state at service load.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Comparison with Reinforced

Concrete...

Reinforcement in RC member does not exert any force

of its own on the member, contrary to the action of
prestressing steel.
The steel required to produce the prestressing force in
the member actively preloads the member, permitting
a relatively high controlled recovery of cracking and
deflection.
Once the flexural tensile strength of the concrete is
exceeded, the prestressed member starts to act like a
RC element.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Economics of Prestressed Concrete

Prestressed members are shallower in depth than their RC counterparts

for the same span and loading conditions.

In general, the depth of a prestressed concrete member is usually about

65 to 80 % of the depth of the equivalent RC member.

PC member requires less concrete, and about 20 to 35 % of the amount of

reinforcement.

This saving in material weight is balanced by the higher cost of materials

needed in prestressing.

Also regardless of the system used, prestressing operations themselves

result in added cost.

Formwork is more complex, since the geometry of PC sections is usually

composed of flanged sections with thin webs.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Economics of Prestressed Concrete

In spite of these additional costs, if a large enough number of
precast units are manufactured, the difference between at least the
initial costs of PC and RC systems is usually not very large.
The indirect long-term savings are quite substantial, because:
less maintenance is needed,
Longer working life is possible due to better quality control of
concrete,
Lighter foundations are achieved due to the smaller cumulative weight
of the superstructure.

Once the beam span of RC exceeds 70 to 90 ft, the dead load

becomes excessive, resulting in heavier members and,
consequently, greater long-term deflection and cracking.
For longer spans, PC becomes mandatory.
Very large spans such as segmental bridges or cable-stayed bridges
can only be constructed through the use of prestressing.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Historical Development
Prestressing concept dates back to 1872, when P.H.
Jackson, an engineer from California, patented a
prestressing system that used a tie rod to construct beams
or arches from individual blocks.
In 1888, C.W. Doehring of Germany obtained a patent for
prestressing slabs with metal wires.
These early attempts were not successful because of loss of
prestress with time.
J. Lund of Norway and G.R. Steiner of the US tried early in
the twentieth century to solve this problem, but did not
succeed.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Historical Development
Unavailability of high-strength steel to overcome prestress
loss was the main hurdle.
R.E. Dill of Nebraska, recognized the effect of shrinkage and
creep of concrete on the loss of prestress.
He subsequently developed the idea that successive posttensioning of unbonded rods would compensate for the
time-dependent loss of stress in the rods due to decrease
in the length of the member because of creep and
shrinkage.
In 1920s, W.H. Hewett of Minneapolis developed the
principles of circular prestressing.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Historical Development
Linear prestressing continued to develop in Europe and in France.
Eugene Freyssinet proposed in 1926 through 1928 methods to
overcome prestress losses through the use of high-strength and
high-ductility steels.
In 1940, he introduced the Freyssinet system comprising the conical
wedge anchor for 12-wire tendons.
During and after the World War II, it became necessary to
reconstruct bridges destroyed by war.
G. Magnel of Belgium and Y. Guyon of Paris extensively developed
and used the concept of prestressing for the design and
construction of bridges in Europe.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Historical Development
P.W. Abeles of England introduced the concept of partial
prestressing between the 1930s and 1960s.
F. Leonhardt of Germany, V. Mikhailov of Russia, and T.Y. Lin
of the US also contributed a great deal to the art and
science of the design of prestress concrete.
Lins load-balancing method simplified the design process,
particularly in continuous structures.
Today, prestressed concrete is used in buildings,
underground structures, towers, floating storage and
offshore structures, power stations, nuclear reactor vessels,
and numerous types of bridge systems including segmental
and cable-stayed bridges.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Concept of Prestressing

Concrete fibre stress distribution in a rectangular beam with straight tendon.

(a) Concentric tendon, prestress only, (b) Concentric tendon, self-weight added.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Concept of Prestressing
The compressive stress on the beam cross-section is uniform and has an
intensity
(1.1)

(1.2a)

and

(1.2b)

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Concept of Prestressing

Concrete fibre stress distribution in a rectangular beam with straight tendon.

(c) Eccentric tendon, prestress only, (b) Eccentric tendon, self-weight added.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Concept of Prestressing
If the tendon is placed at eccentricity e from the centre of gravity of the
concrete (cgc line), it creates a moment Pe.
The stresses at the mid-span become
(1.3a)

(1.3b)
Since the support section of a simply supported beam carries no
moment from the external transverse load, high tensile stresses at the
top fibres are caused by the eccentric prestressing force. To limit such
stresses, eccentricity of the prestressing tendon profile is reduced at the
support section than at the midspan section.

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Stress Control by Prestressing

Consider the plain, unreinforced concrete beam, which carries a

single concentrated load at the centre resulting in flexural stresses.
At a relatively low load, the tensile stress in the bottom of the
member will reach the tensile strength of the material fr., and a crack
will form. Since no restraint is provided against upward extension of
the crack, the member will collapse without further increase of load.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Stress Control by Prestressing

Now consider identical beam, in which a longitudinal axial force P is

introduced prior to vertical loading.
The longitudinal prestressing force will produce a uniform axial
compressive stress.
This force can be adjusted in magnitude, so that, when the transverse
load Q is applied, the superposition of stresses due to P and Q will
result in zero tensile stress at the bottom of the beam.

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Stress Control by Prestressing

It would be more logical to apply the prestressing force near the

bottom.
The force P with same value but applied with eccentricity e = h / 6
relative to concrete centroid, will produce a longitudinal compressive
stress distribution varying from zero at the top surface to a maximum
of 2fc at the bottom.
The stress at bottom will be twice as compared to axial prestressing,
consequently, the transverse load may now be twice.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Stress Control by Prestressing

The transverse load produced moment that varies along the span from zero
at the supports to maximum at the centre.
The best arrangement for prestressing would be to produce counter
moment, acting in the opposite sense. This can be done by using varying
eccentricity.
For each characteristic load arrangement, there is best tendon profile in
the sense that it produces a prestress moment diagram that corresponds to
that of applied load.
If the prestressing counter moment is made exactly equal and opposite to
the moment from the loads, the beam is subjected to axial compressive
stresses. There will be no cracking and deflection in the member.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Equivalent loads

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Equivalent loads

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Overload Behaviour and Strength in Flexure

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Partial Prestressing
Complete elimination of tensile stresses in
members at normal service loads is called Full
prestressing.
In Partial prestressing, tension in concrete
and some flexural cracking is permitted at full
service load.
Full prestressing offers possibility of complete
elimination of cracks at full service load, it
may produce members with large camber.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Prestressing Methods
Pretensioning

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Prestressing Methods
Pretensioning:
Tendon usually in the form of multiple-wire stranded cables, are
stretched between abutments that are a permanent part of plant
facility.
With the forms in place, the concrete is cast around the stressed
tendon.
After sufficient strength is attained, the jacking pressure is released.
The prestressed force is transferred to concrete by bond and no
special anchorage is needed.
Pretensioning is suited to mass production of beams.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Prestressing Methods
Post-tensioning

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Prestressing Methods
Post-tensioning:
In post-tensioning, hollow conduits containing the unstressed
tendons are placed in the beam forms before pouring concrete.
When sufficient strength is gained, the concrete beam itself is used
to provide reaction for the stressing jack.
With the tendon anchored by special fittings at the far end of the
member, it is stretched, then anchored at the jacking end by similar
fittings and the jack removed.
Tendons are normally grouted in the conduits after they are
stressed.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Changes in Prestress Force

The magnitude of prestress force does not remain
constant but assumes different values during the life of
the member.
Some changes are:
Instantaneous
Time dependant
Function of superimposed loading

All changes must be accounted for the in the design.

Early attempts to prestressed concrete were not
successful mainly due to neglect of time-dependant
losses.

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CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Changes in Prestress Force

Generally, the greatest force that the member is
subjected to is the jacking force.
For a post-tensioned member, this force is applied as a
reaction directly upon the concrete member.
With pretensioning, the jacking force reacts against
external anchorages and does not act on the concrete
at all.
At the moment of transfer of prestress force from jack
to the achorage fittings that grip the tendon, there is
immediate reduction in force. There is small amount of
slip at the achorages.

CE -505: Prestressed Concrete Design

Fall 2016
CE -515: Design of Steel Structures

Changes in Prestress Force

There is instantaneous stress loss because of the elastic shortening
of concrete as the prestressing force is transferred to it. This
always occurs in pretensioning, but occurs in post-tensioning only
if there are two or more tendons tensioned sequentially.
In post-tensioned members, friction between steel and conduit
through which it passes results in immediate loss of prestressing
force.
Due to these immediate losses, jacking force is reduced to a lower
value, defined as initial prestress force.
With the passage of time, the steel stress is further reduced.
Shrinkage and creep in concrete also result in time-dependant
losses.
The initial prestressed force is reduced to effective prestress force.

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