PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

Loss of Prestress;
- the lack of success experienced in early attempts to prestress concrete was due, in most cases, to
failure to appreciate the significance of the inevitable partial loss of prestress force. However, later on
it was realized that prestress losses could be calculated and allowed for in the design. Also, their
effect could be minimized through careful selection of the proper materials.
Loss of prestressing force can be grouped into two categories; those that occur immediately
during construction of the member and those that occur over an extended period of time. The
estimation of losses may be done on several different levels. In most cases in practical design, a
detailed calculation of losses is not necessary. It is possible to adapt reasonably accurate lump sum
approximations of prestress losses. For cases in which greater accuracy is required, it is necessary to
estimate the separate losses, taking into account the special conditions of the member geometry,
material properties and the construction methods applied.

Estimation of Losses;

- Lump-Sum Estimate of Losses;

- it was recognized very early in the development of prestressed concrete that there was a need for
approximate expressions to be used to estimate prestress losses in routine design. Many
thousands of successful prestressed structures have been built based on such estimates, and
where member sizes, spans, materials, construction procedures, amount of prestress force, and
environmental conditions are not out of ordinary, this approach is satisfactory. For such
conditions, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has
recommended the values listed on the table below. It should be noted that losses due to friction
are not included in the values for post-tensioned members. The AASHTO recommended losses
include losses due to elastic shortening, creep, shrinkage and relaxation.

Estimate of Prestress Losses

Total Loss, MPa
Type of Prestressing Steel
fc = 27.6 MPa fc = 34.5 MPa

Pretensioning strand --- 310.3

Post-tensioning wire or strand 220.6 227.5
Post-tensioning bars 151.7 158.6

- Estimate of Separate Losses;

- for cases where lump-sum estimate losses are inadequate, e.g., for members of unusual
proportions, exceptional span or lightweight concrete, a separate estimate of individual losses
should be made. Such an analysis is complicated by the interdependence of time-dependent
losses. For example, the relaxation of stress in the tendons is affected by the length changes due
to creep of concrete. Rate of creep, in turn, is altered by change in tendon stress.

- Losses due to Elastic Deformation of Concrete;

concrete shortens when a prestressing force is applied. As the tendons that are bonded to the
adjacent concrete simultaneously shorten, they lose part of the prestressing force that they
carry.

Pretensioned Members;
when the tendon is bonded to the concrete at the time of transfer, the change in steel strain
is the same as the concrete compressive strain at the level of the steel centroid and
losses may be calculated, accordingly,as;

fE = nfcs

Es
n =
Ec

where: n modular ratio

fcs stress in concrete at the level of steel

Post-tensioned Members;
in post-tensioned members, the elastic shortening loss varies from zero if all tendons are
jacked simultaneously to half the value calculated in the pretensioned case if several

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

sequential jacking steps are used, such as two tendons at a time. The elastic loss can be
computed by;

1 n
fE = (fpES)j
n j1

where: n number of tendons or set of tendons sequentially tensioned

j - number of jacking operations

EX. A prestressed beam, having a span of 15.0 m, is reinforced with 10 12.5-mm seven wire strand
tendon as shown on the figure. Assuming that concrete cover is 100 mm, calculate the concrete fiber
stress at transfer stage at the centroid of the tendon for the midspan section of the beam and the
magnitude of loss of prestress due to the effect of the elastic shortening of concrete if the beam is;
a) pretensioned
b) post-tensioned if two tendons are jacked at a time
Given: fci = 31.0 MPa
fps = 1395 MPa

1800
mm
Eps = 185 GPa
c = 24 kN/m3
e
for pretensioned beam,
15.0 m 400 mm
A = bh

= 400(1800) = 720000.0 mm2

bh 3
I =
12

(400)(1800)3
= = 1.944 x
12
1011 mm4

I
r2 =
A

1.944x1011
= = 270000.0
720000
mm2

h
c =
2

1800
= = 900.0 mm
2

e = 900 - 100 = 800.0 mm

b = (0.4)(1.8)(24) = 17.28 kN/m

L2
MD =
8

(17.28)(15)2
= = 486.0 kN-
8
m

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

(10)(12.5)2
Aps = = 1227.185
4
mm2

Pi = fpsAps

(1395
)(1227.185)
= = 1711.923
1000
kN

Pi 2
fcs = 1 e + M De
Ac r2 I

1711.923x103 2 6
= 1 (800) + (486x10 )(800) =
720000 270000 1.944x1011

6.014 MPa

Eci = 4700 '

fci

= 4700 31 = 26168.493 MPa

Eps
n =
Eci

185x103
= = 7.070
26168
.493

fE = nfcs

= (7.070)(6.014) = 42.519 MPa

for post-tensioned beam,

1 n
fE = (fpES)j
n j1

1 4 3 2 1
= (42.519) = 21.260
5 4 4 4 4
MPa

- Losses due to Relaxation of Steel;

prestressing tendons are held stressed at essentially constant length during the lifetime of a
member, although there is some reduction in length due to concrete creep and shrinkage.
There will be a gradual reduction of stress in the steel under these conditions resulting from
relaxation, even though the length is nearly held constant. The amount of relaxation depends
on the intensity of steel stress as well as time and, for stress-relieved steel, it is the ratio of
reduced stress to initial stress.

'
log t2 log t1 fpi
fR = f

f 0.55
pi
10
py

where: fpi - initial stress of steel

t2 - time at the end of interval
t1 - time at the start of the interval

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

fpy - effective yield stress

EX. Find the relaxation loss in prestress at the end of 5 years for a prestressed beam assuming that
relaxation loss from jacking to transfer, from elastic shortening and from long-tern losses due to creep
and shrinkage over this period is 20% of the initial prestress.
Given: fpy = 1570 MPa fpi = 1400 MPa

fpi = Rfp1

= (1 0.20)(1400) = 1120.0
MPa

t = 5(365)(24) = 43800 hours

'
log t2 log t1 fpi
fR = fpi
f 0.55
10
py

log 43800 1120

= (1120) 0.55 = 84.93 MPa
10 1570

- Losses due to Creep of Concrete;

creep is the property of many materials by which they continue deforming over considerable
lengths of time at constant stress or load. The rate of strain increase is rapid at first but
decreases with time until a constant value approached asymptotically. Creep strain for
concrete has been found experimentally to depend not only on time but also on the mix
proportions, humidity, curing conditions and the age of the concrete when it is first loaded.

Bransons Model;

fC = Ctnfcs

t0.60
where, Ct = Cu
10 t0.60

where: Ct creep coefficient at any time, t

Cu ultimate creep coefficient having a value ranging between 2 and 4 with
an
average vale of 2.3

The ACI-ASCE Committee gives the following formula for evaluating creep;

fC = nKCR (fcs fcsd)

where: fcs - stress in concrete at level of steel cgs immediately after transfer
fcsd - stress in concrete at level of steel cgs due to all superimposed dead loads
applied after prestressing is accomplished
n modular ratio
KCR = 2.0 for pretensioned members (for normal concrete)
= 1.6 for post-tensioned members (for normal concrete)

Note: KCR should be reduced by 20% for lightweight concrete

EX. A post-tensioned beam shown below is to carry a superimposed load of 6.0 kN/m, excluding its own
weight. The beam has a span of 12.0 m and is reinforced by 8 10-mm seven wire strand tendon.
Calculate the loss in prestress due to creep at full concrete strength after 28 days assuming concrete
cover of 50 mm.
Given: fc = 41.4 MPa
600 mm

fps = 1420 MPa 6.0 kN/m

Eps = 200 GPa
c = 24 kN/m3
e

12.0 m 300 mm
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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

A = bh

= 300(600) = 180000.0 mm2

bh 3
I =
12

(300)(600)3
= = 5.400 x
12
109 mm4

I
r2 =
A

5.40x109
= = 30000.0 mm2
180000

h
c =
2

600
= = 300.0 mm
2

e = 300 - 50 = 250.0 mm

b = (0.3)(0.6)(24) = 4.32 kN/m

b L2
Mb =
8

(4.32)(12)2
= = 77.760
8
kN-m

(8)(10)2
Aps = = 628.319 mm2
4

P1 = fpsAps

(1420
)(628.319)
= = 892.213
1000
kN

Pi 2
fcs = 1 e + M De
Ac r 2 I

892.213x103 2 6
= 1 (250) + (77.76x10 )(250) =
180000 30000 5.40x109

11.666 MPa

Ec = 4700 fc'

= 4700 41.4 = 30241.131 MPa

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

Eps
n =
Ec

200x103
= = 6.614
30241
.131

by Bransons Model,

assume, Cu = 2.30,

t0.60
Ct = Cu
10 100.60

(28)0.60
= (2.30) = 0.977
10 (28)0.60

fC = Ctnfcs

= 0.977(6.614)(11.666) = 10.765 MPa

by the ACI-ASCE Model,

sdL2
Msd =
8

(6.0)(12)2
= = 108.0 kN-m
8

M sde
fcsd =
I

(108x106 )(250)
= = 5.0 MPa
5.40x109

use, KCR = 1.60, for post-tensioned beams

fC = nKCR (fcs fcsd)

= (6.614)(1.60)(11.666 5) = 70.542
MPa

- Losses due to Shrinkage of Concrete;

drying shrinkage of concrete permits a reduction of strain in the prestressing steel equal to the
shrinkage strain of the concrete. The resulting steel stress loss is an important component of
the total prestress loss for all types of prestressed concrete beams. Only the part of the
shrinkage that occurs after transfer of prestressing force to the member needs to be
considered. For pretensioned construction, transfer commonly takes place only 24 hours after
pouring, and nearly all of the shrinkage takes place subsequent to that time. However, post-
tensioned members are seldom stressed at an earlier age than seven days, and often much
later than that. The amount of shrinkage, based from test, indicates that about 10 to 15% of
the ultimate shrinkage may already have occurred at seven days. The stressing is delayed
until 28 days, about 35 to 45% of the shrinkage would have occurred. For total shrinkage loss
calculations, or for calculations based on the step-by-step approach, the amount of shrinkage
occurring in the specific time interval is the difference between the shrinkage at the
beginning of the interval and that at the end.

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

fS = Essh

sh = 300 x 10-6 for pre-tensioning

200x106
sh = for post-tensioning
log10(t 2)

where: sh total residual shrinkage strain

t age of concrete at transfer, in days

EX. Using the previous problem, find the loss in prestress due to shrinkage.
Given: fc = 41.4 MPa fps = 1420 MPa
Eps = 200 GPa c = 24 kN/m3

200x106
sh =
log10(t 2)

200x106
= = 1.354 x
log10(28 2)
10-4

fS = Essh

= (1.354 x 10-4)(200 x 103) = 27.080

MPa

- Losses due to Bending of Member;

as the beam bends due to prestress or external load, it becomes convex or concave depending
on the nature of the load. The corresponding change in prestress is given by;

fB = Esc

where: c unit compressive strain of concrete at the level of the tendon

- Losses due to Anchorage Slip;

in post-tensioned members, when the jacking force is released, the steel tension is transferred
to the concrete by special anchorage of one type or another. Inevitably, there is a small
amount of slip at the anchorage upon transfer, as the wedges seat themselves into the
tendons, or as the anchorage hardware deforms. Typically, anchorage set is in the range of
one-eight to one-fourth of an inch. A similar situation is obtained in pretensioning, when the
prestressing force is transferred from the jacks to the permanent anchorage of the casting
bed through strandholding chucks.

Es
fA =
L

where: amount of slip

L length of tendon
Es modulus of elasticity of steel

EX. Compute the anchorage loss in a pretensioned beam if the estimated slip is 6.50 mm and having a
span of 15.0 m.
Given: Eps = 200 GPa

Es
fA =
L

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

(200x103 )(6.5)
= = 86.667
(15)(1000)
MPa

- Losses due to Friction;

for post-tensioned members, the tendons are usually anchored at one end and stretched with
the jacks at the other end. As the steel slides through the duct, frictional resistance is
developed, with the result that the tension at the anchored end is less than the tension at the
jack. The total friction loss is the sum of the wobble friction due to unintentional misalignment
and the curvature friction due to the intentional curvature of the tendon.

Ps = Pe(klx +) ; when (klx + ) 0.30

Ps = Pe (1 + klx + ) ; when (klx + ) 0.30

8y
=
x

fF = fpi(klx + )

where: Ps prestressing force at the jacking end

coefficient of friction between cable and duct
the cumulative angle in radians through which the tangent to the cable
profile has turned between any two points under consideration
k wobble friction coefficient
lx length of prestressing tendon element from jacking end to any point x

Friction Coefficient for Post-Tensioning Tendons

Type of Tendon Curvature Coefficient, Wobble Coefficient

Tendons in Flexible Metal Sheath

Wire Tendons 0.15-0.25 0.0033-0.0049
7-Wire Strand 0.15-0.25 0.0016-0.0066
High-Strength Bars 0.08-0.30 0.00013-0.00200

Tendons in Rigid Metal Duct

0.15-0.25 0.0007
7-Wire Strand

Mastic Coated Tendons, Wire Tendons and 7-Wire

0.05-0.15 0.0033-0.0066
Strand

Pre-Greased Tendons, Wire Tendons and 7-Wire Strand 0.05-0.15 0.0010-0.0066

EX. A concrete beam of 10.0 m span, 100 mm wide and 300 mm deep, is prestressed by cables. The are
of each cable is 200 mm2 and the initial stress in the cable is 1200 MPa. Cable 1 is parabolic with an
eccentricity of 50 mm above the centroid at the supports and 50 mm below at the center of the span.
Cable 2 is also parabolic with zero eccentricity at supports and 50 mm below the centroid at the center of
the span. Cable 3 is straight with a uniform eccentricity of 50 mm below the centroid. If the cables are
tensioned from one end only, estimate the percentage loss of stress in each cable due to friction.
Given: = 0.35 k = 0.0015/m

8y
=
x

fF = fpi (klx + )

for cable 1,

(8)(100)
1 = = 0.080 rad
(10)(1000 )

fF = (1200)[0.0015(10) + 0.35(0.080)] = 51.60 MPa

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

for cable 2,

(8)(50)
2 = = 0.040 rad
(10)(1000 )

fF = (1200)[0.0015(10) + 0.35(0.040)] = 34.80 MPa

for cable 3,

3 = 0; since the tendon is straight

fF = (1200)(0.0015)(10) = 18.0 MPa

- Total Loss of Prestress;

the total loss in prestress can be calculated for pre-tensioned and post-tensioned members as
follows;

fpre = fe1 + fcp + fsh + frel

fpost = fe1 + fcp + fsh + frel + ffr + fanc

the loss due to elastic deformation is only applicable when the tendons are jacked sequentially
and not simultaneously

- Loss Estimation by the Time-Step Method;

- the loss calculations discussed recognized the interdependence of creep, shrinkage and relaxation
losses in an approximate way, by an arbitrary reduction of 10% of the initial force to obtain the
force for which creep and relaxation losses were calculated. For cases requiring greater accuracy,
losses can be calculated for discrete time steps over a period of interest. The prestress force
causing losses during any time step is taken equal to the value at the end of the preceding time
step, accounting for losses due to all causes up to that time. Accuracy can be improved to any
desired degree by reducing the length and increasing the number of time steps.

EX. A pretensioned beam, 200 mm wide and 500 mm deep, is prestressed by 10 wires of 7-mm initially
stressed to 1200 MPa, with their centroids located at 50 mm from the soffit. Find the maximum stress in
the concrete immediately after transfer, allowing only for elastic shortening of concrete. If the concrete
undergoes a further shortening due to creep and shrinkage while there is a relaxation of 5% of steel
stress, estimate the final percentage loss of prestress in the wires.
Given: Es = 210 GPa
500 mm

fc = 42 MPa
sh = 300 x 10-6
Ct = 0.50
100 mm
A = bh
200 mm
= 200(500) = 100000.0 mm2

bh 3
I =
12

(200)(500)3
= = 2.083 x
12
109 mm4

Ec = 4700 fc'

= 4700 42 = 30459.481 MPa

Es
n =
Ec

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

200000
= = 6.566
30459.48

Pi = Apsfps

(10)(7)2(1200
)
= = 461.814
(4)(1000)
kN

Pi Pi ec
fcs = +
A I

461.814x103 (461.814x103 )(200)(250)

= + =
100000 2.083x109
15.703 MPa

fE = nfcs

= (6.566)(15.703) = 103.106 MPa

fC = ctnfcs

= (0.50)(6.566)(15.703) = 51.553 MPa

fsh = Essh

= (200 x 103)(3.0 x 10-4) = 60.0 MPa

fR = 0.05(1200) = 60.0 MPa

fpre = fE + fC + fSh + fR

= 103.106 + 51.553 + 60.0 + 60.0 = 274.659

MPa

274.659
%loss = (100) = 22.888%
1200

EX. A concrete beam, 300 mm wide and 600 mm deep, is prestressed with wires located at a constant
eccentricity of 50 mm and carries an initial stress of 1000 MPa. If the span is 10.0 m, calculate the
percentage loss of stress in the wires if the beam is; a) pre-tensioned; b) post-tensioned.
Given: Es = 200 GPa
600 mm

Ec = 40 GPa
Ct = 0.80
= 1.0 m
k = 0.0015/m 250 mm
As = 1200 mm2
relaxation of steel wires= 5% for initial stress
shrinkage of concrete = 300 x 10-6 for pre-tensioning 300 mm
= 200 x 10 -6
for post-tensioning

A = bh

= 300(600) = 180000.0 mm2

bh 3
I =
12

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

(300)(600)3
= = 5.40 x 109
12
mm4

Es
n =
Ec

200
= = 5.0
40

Pi = Apsfps

(1200)(1000
)
= = 1200.0 kN
(1000)

Pi Pi ec
fcs = +
A I

1200x103 (1200x103 )(250)(300)

= + =
180000 5.40x109
23.33 MPa

Pre-Tensioned Beam Post-Tensioned Beam

Type of Loss
MPa MPa

fe = nfcs (5)(23.33) 116.65 ---

fR (0.05)(1000) 50.0 (0.05)(1000) 50.0

fC = Ctnfcs (0.8)(5)(23.33) 93.32 (0.8)(5)(23.33) 93.32

fS = Essh (300 x 10-3)(200) 60.0 (200 x 10-3)(200) 40.0

Es (200)(1.0)
fA = --- 20.0
L 10

fF = fpi(klx + ) --- (1000)(0.0015)(10) 15.0

ftot 319.97 218.32

319.97 218.32
%loss (100) 32.0 (100) 21.83
1000 1000

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PRECON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE DESIGN CHAPTER 6

Engr. M.D. Basea 12