ASIA PACIFIC COLLEGE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

AH Banzon St., Ibayo, City of Balanga, Bataan

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
IN REINFORCED AND PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE DESIGN
(CE PROF 10)

A.Y. 2020-2021

REFERENCES:
1. Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc., (2015) National Structural Code of the
Philippines NSCP C101-15 Volume 1 Buildings, Towers and Other Vertical Structures, 7 th Edition
Second Printing 2019, Philippines: ASEP.
2. McCormac, Jack C. and Brown, Russell H., (2015) Design of Reinforced Concrete, 10th Edition, USA:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
3. Wright, James K., (2015) Reinforced Concrete: Mechanics and Design, 7th Edition, USA: Pearson
Education Inc.
4. Aghayere, Abi O., (2018) Reinforced Concrete Design, 9th Edition, USA: Person Education Inc.
5. Nawy, Edward G., (2009) Prestressed Concrete A Fundamental Approach, 5th Edition, Pearson
Education, Inc.
6. Zamani, Arzhang, (2017) Essential Prestressed Concrete Examples: In accordance with ACI 318-14,
1st Edition, USA: Structure Gate LLC.
Lesson 13: Introduction to Prestressed Concrete
OBJECTIVE

• Analyze, design and solve problems with prestressed concrete

INTRODUCTION (WORKING STRESS DESIGN)

Prestressing can be defined as the imposition of internal stresses into a structure that are of opposite
character to those that will be caused by the service or working loads. It is also defined as the
application of initial load on structure, to enable it to counteract the stresses arising from subsequent
loads during the service period.

The prestressing of a structure is not the only instance of prestressing. The concept of prestressing
existed before the applications in concrete. Two examples of prestressing before the development of
prestressed concrete are provided.

• Force-fitting of metal bands on wooden barrels

The metal bands induce a state of initial hoop compression, to counteract the hoop tension caused
by filling of liquid in the barrels.
• Pre-tensioning the spokes in a bicycle wheel
The pre-tension of a spoke in a bicycle wheel is applied to such an extent that there will always be a
residual tension in the spoke.

For a more detailed illustration of prestressing, see figure below. It is assumed that the following steps
have been taken with regard to this beam:

Sequence showing effect of prestressing force at different stages.

1. Steel strands (represented by the dashed lines) were placed in the lower part of the beam form.
2. The strands were tensioned to a very high stress.
3. The concrete was placed in the form and allowed to gain sufficient strength for the prestressed
strands to be cut.
4. The strands were cut.

The cut strands tend to resume their original length, thus compressing the lower part of the beam and
causing a negative bending moment. The positive moment caused by the beam weight and any
superimposed gravity loads is directly opposed by the negative moment. Another way of explaining this
is to say that a compression stress has been produced in the bottom of the beam opposite in character
to the tensile stress that is caused there by the working loads.

ORIGIN OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

Prestressed Concrete – basically a concrete in which internal stress of suitable magnitude and
distribution are introduced so that stresses resulting from external loads are counteracted to a desired
degree.

The concept of prestressed concrete was made more and highly understandable because of the
invention of Eugene Freyssinet in France.

Eugine Freyssinet (1926) – Used high tensile steel wires with ultimate strength as high as 1725 MPa and
yield stress over 1240 MPa. In 1939, he developed for end anchorage for post tensioning and developed
double-acting jacks. He is often referred to as the Father of Prestressed Concrete.

A key for a successful prestress concrete beam is not just the initial stress to be applied which is a very
high jacking force, is the anchorage for prestressing wires to become stable to the first end and
tensioned on the other end.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

➢ Advantages

Prestressed members are crack-free under working loads and, as a result, look better and are more
watertight, providing better corrosion protection for the steel. Furthermore, crackfree prestressed
members require less maintenance and last longer than cracked reinforced concrete members.
Therefore, for a large number of structures, prestressed concrete provides the lowest first-cost
solution, and when its reduced maintenance is considered, prestressed concrete provides the lowest
overall cost for many additional cases.
 The negative moments caused by prestressing produce camber in the members, with the result that
total deflections are reduced. Other advantages of prestressed concrete include the following:

• reduction in diagonal tension stresses

• sections with greater stiffnesses under working loads
• and increased fatigue and impact resistance compared to ordinary reinforced concrete.

➢ Disadvantages

Prestressed concrete requires the use of higher-strength concretes and steels and the use of more
complicated formwork, with resulting higher labor costs. Other disadvantages include the following:

1. Closer quality control required in manufacture.

2. Losses in the initial prestressing forces.
3. Additional stress conditions must be checked in design, such as the stresses occurring when
prestress forces are first applied and then after prestress losses have taken place, as well as the
stresses occurring for different loading conditions.
4. Cost of end anchorage devices and end-beam plates that may be required.

TYPES OF PRESTRESSING

Prestressing of concrete can be classified in several ways.

Source of prestressing force

This classification is based on the method by which the prestressing force is generated. There are four
sources of prestressing force: Mechanical, hydraulic, electrical and chemical.

External or internal prestressing

This classification is based on the location of the prestressing tendon with respect to the concrete
section.

Pre-tensioning or post-tensioning
This is the most important classification and is based on the sequence of casting the concrete and
applying tension to the tendons.

Linear or circular prestressing

This classification is based on the shape of the member prestressed.

Full, limited or partial prestressing

Based on the amount of prestressing force, three types of prestressing are defined.

Uniaxial, biaxial or multi-axial prestressing

As the names suggest, the classification is based on the directions of prestressing a member.

IMPORTANT CLASSIFICATION OF PRESTRESS CONCRETE

➢ Pre-tensioning
The tension is applied to the tendons before casting of the concrete. The precompression is
transmitted from steel to concrete through bond over the transmission length near the ends.

In pre-tensioning system, the high-strength steel tendons are pulled between two end abutments
(also called bulkheads) prior to the casting of concrete. The abutments are fixed at the ends of a
prestressing bed.

Once the concrete attains the desired strength for prestressing, the tendons are cut loose from the
abutments.
 The prestress is transferred to the concrete from the tendons, due to the bond between them.
During the transfer of prestress, the member undergoes elastic shortening. If the tendons are
located eccentrically, the member is likely to bend and deflect (camber). The various stages of the
pre-tensioning operation are summarized as follows.

1. Anchoring of tendons against the end abutments

2. Placing of jacks
3. Applying tension to the tendons
4. Casting of concrete
5. Cutting of the tendons.

During the cutting of the tendons, the prestress is transferred to the concrete with elastic
shortening and camber of the member.

The stages are shown schematically in the following figures.

➢ Post-tensioning
The tension is applied to the tendons (located in a duct) after hardening of the concrete. The pre-
compression is transmitted from steel to concrete by the anchorage device (at the end blocks). The
following figure shows a post-tensioned box girder of a bridge.

In post-tensioning systems, the ducts for the tendons (or strands) are placed along with the
reinforcement before the casting of concrete. The tendons are placed in the ducts after the casting
of concrete. The duct prevents contact between concrete and the tendons during the tensioning
operation.

Unlike pre-tensioning, the tendons are pulled with the reaction acting against the hardened
concrete.

If the ducts are filled with grout, then it is known as bonded post-tensioning. The grout is a neat
cement paste or a sand-cement mortar containing suitable admixture.

In unbonded post-tensioning, as the name suggests, the ducts are never grouted and the tendon is
held in tension solely by the end anchorages. The following sketch shows a schematic
representation of a grouted post-tensioned member. The profile of the duct depends on the support
 conditions. For a simply supported member, the duct has a sagging profile between the ends. For a
continuous member, the duct sags in the span and hogs over the support.

The various stages of the post-tensioning operation are summarized as follows.

1. Casting of concrete.
2. Placement of the tendons.
3. Placement of the anchorage block and jack.
4. Applying tension to the tendons.
5. Seating of the wedges.
6. Cutting of the tendons.

The stages are shown schematically in the following figures. After anchoring a tendon at one end, the
tension is applied at the other end by a jack. The tensioning of tendons and pre-compression of concrete
occur simultaneously. A system of self-equilibrating forces develops after the stretching of the tendons.

Sample Video: https://fb.watch/5D01PcNfoO/

STRESS CALCULATIONS

For a consideration of stresses in a prestressed rectangular beam, reference is made in the figure below.
Example 13.1

Calculate the stresses in the top and bottom fibers at the centerline and ends of the beam shown in
Figure below.

DRAPED TENDONS

If, however, the tendons are draped, as shown below, it is possible to reduce or even eliminate the
tensile stresses. Out in the span, the centroid of the strands may be below the lower kern point but if at
the ends of the beam, where there is no stress due to dead-load moment, it is below the kern point,
tensile stresses in the top will be the result. If the tendons are draped so that at the ends they are
located at or above this point, tension will not occur in the top of the beam.
In posttensioning, the sleeve or conduit is placed in the forms in the curved position desired. The
tendons in pretensioned members can be placed at or above the lower kern points and then can be
pushed down to the desired depth at the centerline or at other points. In Figure 19.7, the tendons are
shown held down at the one-third points. Two alternatives to draped tendons that have been used are
to use straight tendons, located below the lower kern point but that are encased in tubes at their ends
or that have their ends greased. Both methods are used to prevent the development of negative
moments at the beam ends.

Example 13.2

Determine the location of the lower kern point at the ends of the beam of Example 13.1. Calculate the
stresses at the top and bottom of the beam ends, assuming the tendons are placed at the kern point.