KUPPAM ENGINEERING COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

D.RADHAKRISHNAN M.E.,AMIE.,C.Eng
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
STRUCTURE
 UNIT -1

INTRODUCTION
A BRIEF HISTORY

In 1886, P.H. Jackson, an engineer of San

Francisco obtained patents for tightening steel tie
rods in artificial stones and concrete arches to
serve as floor slabs
▸ Around 1888.C.E.W.Doehring of Germany
independently secured a patent for concrete
reinforced with metal that had tensile stress
applied to it before the slab was loaded.
▸ Ever since the development of reinforced
concrete by Hennebique at the end of 19th
century, it was recognized that steel and concrete
could be more effectively combined if the steel
was pre-tensioned, putting the concrete into
compression.
▸ Cracking could be reduced, if not prevented
altogether, which will increase stiffness and
improve durability In 1908, C.R. Steiner of
U.S.A suggested the possibility of retightening
the reinforcing rods after some shrinkage and
creep of concrete had taken place.
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRESTRESSING

• Prestressing is the intentional creation of permanent stress in a structure or

assembly, for improving its behavior and strength under various service
conditions.
• In ordinary reinforced concrete, consisting of concrete and mild steel as basic
components, the compressive stresses are born by concrete while tensile stresses
are born entirely by steel. The concrete only acts as a binding material; it does not
take part in resisting the external forces.
• In prestressed concrete, compression is induced prior to loading in the zones
where external loads would normally cause tensile stresses.
• In the case of long beams, where large shear forces exist, the beam sizes have to
be large to limit the diagonal tensile stresses under certain limits. Prestress
decrease diagonal tensile stresses. This has led to adopt modified I-section and T-
section in which there is substantial reduction in web area.
• In order to get the maximum advantage of a prestressed concrete member, it
is necessary to use not only high strength concrete but also high tensile steel
wires.
• Concrete used for prestressed work should have cube strength of 35
N/mm2 for post-tensioned system and 45N/m m2 for pretensioned system.
• In the design of a prestressed concrete member, the estimated loss of
prestress due to shrinkage of concrete and creep of concrete and steel is at
the order of nearly 200 N/mm2
Need of Prestressing
• To offset the deficiency of tensile strength in concrete, steel reinforcement
is provided near the bottom of simple beams to carry the tensile stresses.
PRETENSIONING & POST TENSIONING METHOD

(89) What is Prestressed Concrete? || Types of Prestressed Concrete

|| Types of Concrete #3 - YouTube
PRETENSIONING METHOD

A method of
prestressing concrete in
which tendons are
tensioned before the
concrete is placed.
PROCESS:
• Pre tensioning is one method of applying prestress.
• Tendons either pass through a single mould or a line of moulds for multiple
members arranged end to end and can be attached at one end to fixed anchorage.
• The tendons are then tensioned from the fixed anchorage between an external
independent anchorage to give the required tensile force in the tendon.
• The tendons are then held in place while the concrete is poured.
• When the concrete has hardened sufficiently the ends of the tendons are slowly
released from the anchorages. The tendons are restrained from gaining their
original length by the development of bond stresses between the concrete and the
tendon, and it is these bond stresses that transfer the compressive stress to the
concrete.
• The tendons are then finally trimmed off.
POST TENSIONING METHOD

A method of prestressing
concrete in which
tendons are tensioned
after the concrete is
placed.
PROCESS

• Post-Tensioning is another method of applying prestress to a concrete member.

• The tendon is placed in the correct position in the formwork with the dead-end
anchorage and live end anchorage, through which the tendon passes.
• The concrete is then poured and left to harden.
• When the concrete has gained sufficient strength a jack is attached to the live end
anchorage and the tendon stressed to the required force. The operation is to be
carefully done as any error could impair the structural integrity of the member.
• The tension force in the tendon is transferred to the concrete as a compressive
force by the reactions at the anchorages. The jack is then removed.
 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 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.
MATERIALS USED IN PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

1) Steel
2) Concrete
 HIGH TENSILE STEEL

Ordinary mild steel and deformed bars used in R.C.C. are not used in PSC
(Prestressed concrete) because their yield strength is not very high.
In the PSC, loss of prestress (about 20%) occurs due to many factors. If mild
steel or HYSD bars are used then very little prestress will be left after the losses
and will be of no use for us. Therefore, high tensile strength steel is used for
prestressing.
In addition to the high strength, the steel used in prestresing must have a higher
ultimate elongation. Various forms of steel used for prestressing are as follows:
1. Tendons
2. Wire strands or cables
3. Bars
• TENDONS

Tendons are high strength tensile wires available in various diameter from 1.5mm to 8mm. Table
gives the ultimate tensile strength of steel wires used for prestressing.

Ultimate tensile strength

Diameter of wire (mm)
(N/mm2)
1.5 2350
2.0 2200
3.0 1900
4.0 1750
5.0 1600
7.0 1500
8.0 1500
Wire Strands or Cables
• A strand or cable is made of a bundle of wires spun together. The overall diameter
of a cable or stand is from 7 to 17mm. They are used for post-tensioning systems.

Bars
• High tensile steel bars of diameter 10mm or more are also used in prestressed
concrete.
 HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE
• Since high tensile steel is used in PSC, the concrete used should also be of good
quality and high strength.
• Therefore, IS code recommends a minimum mix of M40 for pretensioned system
and M30 for post tensioned system.
• These mixes have high strength and a high value of modulus of elasticity of
concrete which results in less deflection.
• The concrete used in PSC should be well compacted.
High strength concrete is used in PSC for following reasons:
1.Use of high strength concrete results in smaller sections.
2.High strength concrete offers high resistance in tension, shear, bond and
bearing.
3.Less loss of prestress occurs with high strength concrete.
 NECESSITY OF HIGH TENSILE STEEL AND HIGH STRENGTH
CONCRETE

➢ High strength concrete is necessary for prestress concrete as the material offers highly resistance in
tension, shear bond and bearing.
➢ In the zone of anchorage the bearing stresses being hired, high strength concrete is invariably
preferred to minimizing the cost.
➢ High strength concrete is less liable to shrinkage cracks and has lighter modulus of elasticity and
smaller ultimate creep strain resulting in a smaller loss of prestress in steel.
➢ The use of high strength concrete results in a reduction in a cross sectional dimensions of prestress
concrete structural element with a reduced dead weight of the material longer span become
technically and economically practicable.
➢ Tensile strength of high tensile steel is in the range of 1400 to 2000 N/mm2 and if initially stress
upto 1400 N/mm2 their will be still large stress in the high tensile reinforcement after making
deduction for loss of prestress. Therefore high tensile steel is made for prestress concrete.
METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF PRESTRESSING

In concrete structures, prestress is introduced by stretching steel wire

and anchoring them against concrete. Therefore, the prestressing
systems should comprise essentially a method of stretching the steel and
a method of anchoring it to the concrete. Different systems are adopted
for pre-tensioning and post tensioning.
A system of prestressing means the actual process adopted in making a
prestressed beam. It involves the process of tensioning the tendons and
securing them firmly to the concrete.
 PRE-TENSIONING SYSTEM

It involves pulling the tendon between abutments which are anchored

firmly against the ends of stressing bed.
➢ The tendons are cut off at each end after the concrete hardens
➢ Now the prestress is transferred to the concrete.

Pre-tensioning Methods
a. Hoyer system or long line method
b. Shorer system
 Hoyer system or long line method
Hoyer system or long line method is often adopted in pre-tensioning.
Two bulk heads or abutments independently anchored to the ground are
provided several meters apart, say, 100m. Wires are stretched between
the bulkheads. Moulds are placed enclosing the wires. The concrete is
now poured so that a number of beams can be produced in one line.
After the concrete has hardened, the wires are released from bulkheads
and are cut off. The prestress is transferred through the bond between
tendons and concrete.
Advantages
For large scale production.
Economical and is used in almost all pre-tensioning factories.

Disadvantages
Uneconomical for larger spans.
The end abutments should be very strong and are provided only in pre-cast
factories.
 POST-TENSIONING SYSTEM
➢A metal tube or a flexible hose following intended profile is placed inside the
mould and concrete is laid. Flexible hose is then removed leaving a duct inside the
member. Steel cable is inserted in the duct.
➢The cable is anchored at one end of the member and stretched using a hydraulic
jack at the other end. After stretching the cable is anchored at the other end also.
Therefore post tensioning system consists of end anchorages and jacks.

The popular post-tensioning systems are the following:

1.Freyssinet system
2.Magnel Blaton system
3.Gifford-Udall system
4.Lee-McCall system
 Freyssinet system

➢Freyssinet system was introduced by the French Engineer Freyssinet and it was the first
method to be introduced.
➢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.
➢Spring keeps proper spacing for the wire. 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.
➢Steel wires are carried along these grooves at the ends. Concrete cylinder is heavily
reinforced.
➢Members are fabricated with the cylinder placed in position. 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.
 Magnel Blaton system
➢In Freyssinet system several wires are stretched at a time. In Magnel Blaton
system, two wires are stretched at a time. This method was introduced by a
famous engineer, Prof. Magnel of Belgium.
➢In this system, the anchorage device consists of sandwich plate having
grooves to hold the wires and wedges which are also grooved. Each plate
carries eight wires.
➢Between the two ends the spacing of the wires is maintained by spacers.
Wires of 5mm or 7mm are adopted. Cables consists of wires in multiples of
8 wires. Cables with as much as 64 wires are also used under special
conditions.
➢A specially devised jack pulls two wires at a time and anchors them. The
wires with the sandwich plate using tapered wedge is shown in figure.
 Gifford Udall System
➢This system originated in Great Britain, is widely used in India. This is a single wire
system. Each wire is stressed independently using a double acting jack. Any number of
wires can be grouped together to form a cable in this system. There are two types of
anchorage device in this system.
a) Tube anchorages
b) Plate anchorages

➢Tube anchorage consists of a bearing plate, anchor wedges and anchor grips. Anchor
plate may be square or circular and have 8 or 12 tapered holes to accommodate the
individual prestressing wires. These wires are locked into the tapered holes by means
of anchor wedges.
➢In addition, grout entry hole is also provided in the bearing plate for grouting. Anchor
wedges are split cone wedges carrying serrations on its flat surface.
➢There is a tube unit which is a fabricated steel component incorporating a thrust plate,
a steel tube with a surrounding helix. This unit is attached to the end shutters and form
an efficient cast-in component of the anchorage.
 Lee McCall System

➢This method is used to prestress steel bars.

➢The diameter of the bar is between 12 and 28mm bars provided with threads at the
ends are inserted in the performed ducts.
➢After stretching the bars to the required length, they are tightened using nuts
against bearing plates provided at the end sections of the member.