PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

Prestressed concrete are those in which cracking

and tensile forces are greatly reduced or
eliminated by the imposition of internal stress
that are of opposite character to those that will be
caused by the service or working loads.
The materials used in prestressed concrete are
concrete and high strength steels also known as
tendons. The concrete to be used must have a
higher strength that used for reinforced concrete
members.
METHOD OF PRESTRESSING
There are two general methods of prestressing, these are pretensioning and posttensioning. In pretensioning, tendons
were tensioned before the concrete was placed. After the concrete had hardened sufficiently, the tendons are cut and
the prestress force is transmitted to concrete by bond. These method is well suited for mass production where the
tendons can run to several meters long across several beams in the casting bed, as shown in the figure below.

In posttensioning, the tendons are tensioned after the concrete is placed and has gained the required strength. The
tendons are placed inside hallow ducts or tubes located in the form. When the concrete has hardened, the tendons are
stretched and mechanically attached to end anchorage. In this method, the prestress force is transferred to the concrete
by end bearing.
STRESS CALCULATION

General equation:
𝑃 𝑃𝑒𝑐 𝑀𝑐
f= − 𝐴 ± 𝐼
± 𝐼
For rectangular section:
𝑃 6𝑃𝑒 6𝑀
f= − 𝑏𝑑 ± ±
𝑏𝑑2 𝑏𝑑2
P = prestressing force
e = eccentricity
M = moment due to
The stressed to be considered in prestressed concrete are those due
loading
to (a) the direct compressive force by the tendons, (b) the moment
due to the eccentricity of the prestress and (c) the flexural stress I = moment of inertia of
due to loadings. The resultant stress at any section is the algebraic the gross section
sum of these stresses at that section with compressive stress being
negative and tensile stress positive.
Rule of sign
The first term of the equation is always negative (compression)
For the second term of the equation, use negative (-) to get the stress at the bottom and positive (+) to get the stress
at the top.
For the third term, use the positive (+) sigh if the bending causes tension in the fiber and negative (-) if the bending
causes compression in the fiber.

LOSS OF PRESTRESS
The immediate prestressing force applied on concrete is called initial stress. The stresses, however, reduces with time
due to several losses. In the design calculations, these losses must be considered to determine the effective prestress 𝑓𝑠𝑒.
According to section 5.18.6.1 the following losses must be considered:
1. Anchorage seating loss- when the jacks are released and the prestressed forces transferred to the end anchorage
system, a little slippage of the tendon occurs. This slippage shortens the tendons thus reduces its stress.
2. Elastic shortening of concrete- when tendons are cut for a pretensioned member, the prestress force is transferred
to the concrete, with the result that the concrete is put in compression and shortens. This causes the tendons to
shorten also thus losses some stress. The loss in stress can be calculated by the formula
𝑛𝑃𝑜
∆𝑓𝑠 = 𝑛 𝑓𝑐 =
𝐴𝑔
Where ∆𝑓𝑠 the loss of is prestress, 𝑓𝑐 is the stress in concrete after transfer of stresses from the cables, n is the modular
ratio which is equal to 𝐸𝑠ൗ𝐸𝑐, 𝑃𝑜 is the initial cable stress, and 𝐴𝑔 is the gross concrete area.
3. Creep of concrete – the gradual deformation of concrete under stress causing a reduction of the length of
tendon. The loss in cable stress due to creep can be determined by multiplying the creep coefficient 𝐶𝑡 by𝑁𝑓𝑐 .
∆𝑓𝑠 = 𝐶𝑡 𝑛 𝑓𝑐
The value of 𝐶𝑡 = 2.0 is recommended for pretensioned sections and 1.6 for posttensioned ones. 𝑓𝑐 is the stress in
concrete adjacent to the initial prestress (-P/A) and due to the permanent dead loads which are applied to the
members after prestressing (Pec/I) where c is measured from the centroid of the section to the centroid of the
tendons.
4. Shrinkage of concrete – concrete shrinks during setting and hardening. The amount of shrinkage that occurs
in concrete varies from almost zero to 0.0005 mm/mm with an average value of about 0.0003 mm/mm. The
shrinkage loss is approximately 7% in pretensioned sections and 6% for posttensioned ones. The lost in
prestress due to shrinkage is equal to 𝜀𝑠ℎ 𝐸𝑠 where 𝜀𝑠ℎ is given by the formula 𝜀𝑠ℎ = 0.00055 (1-0.6V/S)
(1.5-0.1H) where V/S is the volume to surface ratio and H is the relative humidity correction.
5. Relaxation of tendon stress – this refers to the creep of tendons due to permanent stress.
6. Friction loss due to intended or unintended curvature in post-tensioning tendons – This refers to the friction
loss between the tendons and the surrounding materials. These losses are due to the so-called length and
curvature effects. The length effect or wobble effect is the friction that would have existed if the cable had
been straight and not curved. The curvature effect is caused by the coefficient of friction between the
materials caused by the pressure on the concrete from the tendons.