STRUCTURAL DESIGN II

PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN

by
Dr. RUPERT WILLIAMS

JANUARY 2008

COURSE OUTLINE
• DESIGN STAGES
• DESIGN FOR SHEAR
• PRESTRESS LOSSES
• LOAD BALANCING
• GENERAL STRUCTURES

Text Books and codes

• ACI 318 -05 Code and Commentary
• Design of Concrete Structures (by
Arthur Nilson)
• Prestress Concrete Design – T.Y. Lin

General Requirements
• In accordance with ACI 318, prestressed concrete members shall
be designed for the three design stages: Transfer, service and
Ultimate.
• For Pre Tensioned concrete strand is pre tensioned before the
concrete is poured.
• For post tensioned concrete, strands are placed in ducts of
concrete member.
 General Requirements
• At the transfer design stage, a prestressing force is applied to the member.
Immediate prestress losses occur as a result of elastic deformation of the
concrete, and in the case of post tensioned concrete, anchor set and friction
losses.

• At the serviceability design stage, all time dependent prestress losses have
occurred as a result of creep and shrinkage of the concrete and relaxation of
the tendon stress.
General Requirements
• At the strength design stage, a rectangular stress block is assumed
with a maximum strain in the concrete of 0.003.

Transfer Design Stage

• The permissible stresses at the ends of simply supported beams
without auxiliary reinforcement should be > -6√ fc′ (see Cl. 18.4.1)
-0.5 √ fc′ -metric
• The initial prestressing force mobilizes the self weight of the
member producing the following stresses:

Transfer Design Stage

1 e M
• Equation 1 f ti = Pi ( − )+ G
Ac St St

1 e M
• Equation 2. f bi = Pi ( + )− G
Ac Sb Sb
 Transfer Design Stage

• Example 1
The pre tensioned beam shown below is simply supported over a
span of 6.0 m. and has a concrete strength of 30 N/mm2 at
transfer. Determine the magnitude and location of the initial
prestressing force to produce satisfactory stresses at mid span
immediately after transfer, without using auxiliary reinforcement.

Transfer Design Stage

• Solution
The properties of the section are:
Ac = 46400 mm2
Ic = 359 x 106 mm4
y′ = 116 mm
St = 1.9 x 106 mm3
Sb = 3.1 x 106 mm3
• Taking the unit weight of concrete as 24.5 kN/m3, the self weight
moment at mid span is:

w Ac L2/8 = 5.07 kNm

At mid-span the permissible tensile stress in the top fiber without

auxiliary reinforcement is:
fti = -0.25√fci′ = -1.4 N/mm2

Transfer Design Stage

Solution
Using equation 1, we have:
-1400 kN/m2 = Pi/0.046 - Pi e /0.0019 + 5.07/0.0019

Simplifying we get:
-4068.4 = Pi / 0.046 – Pi e/ 0.0019

Transfer Design Stage

• At mid-span the permissible stress in the bottom fiber is given by:
fbi = 0.6 fci′= 18 N / mm2.

Using equation 2, and simplifying we have:

18000 kN/m2 = Pi/0.046 + Pi e /0.0031 - 5.07/0.0031
19635.5 = Pi / 0.046 + Pi e/ 0.0031

Transfer Design Stage

• Solving Equations 1 and 2 Simultaneously gives:

Pi = 513 kN
e = 57.2 mm.
 These are the limiting values for the prestressing force and the
eccentricity based on the stress limitations of the ACI 318.

• Example 2
A pre tensioned I-section beam (shown below) is simply supported
over a span of 6.0 m. and has a concrete strength of 50 N/mm2 at
transfer. Determine the magnitude and location of the initial
prestressing force to produce satisfactory stresses at mid span
immediately after transfer, without using auxiliary reinforcement.
State whether or not the eccentricity found is adequate based on
cover requirements.

GENERAL

• Advantages to pre-stress concrete

1. Shallower members for longer spans
2. Better durability if no tension is allowed i.e. no cracks
3. Less deflection, i.e. camber
4. High fatigue strength.