TOS ASSIGNMENT NO.

3, SEM 9

TOPIC – PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

( GROUP CASE STUDY)

CN TOWER, TORONTO

GROUP MEMBERS
SHRADDHA DESHMUKH – 17023
PRACHI PARAB – 17073
SANIKA PARANDWAL – 17074
SURBHI PATIL - 17079
DALJEET THETHI – 17112
INTRODUCTION

• Toronto's CN Tower is this giant communications and observation Tower in downtown core of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada built between 1973 and 1975.

• It is 1815 ft tall which makes it the world's tallest free-standing structure.

• A major structural feature of the Tower is that both its foundation and superstructure (for most of its height) were
prestressed using in-place posttensioning.

• The 1450-ft concrete shaft of the superstructure has a three-legged cross section which tapers upward. This
central shaft was slip formed in about 8 months from June 1973 to February 1974.

• In the summer of 1974 a sky pod with seven floors was added to the superstructure to provide an observation
restaurant and service facilities for broadcasters.

• The basic supporting structure of the sky pod is a set of twelve radially arranged cantilevered concrete walls which
were initially tied into the slip formed shaft by means of stress bars.

• After the walls were completed, the cantilevered structure was stabilized laterally using a post-tensioned ring
beam.

• In March and April 1975, the concrete Tower was topped off by a 350- ft high steel mast. Erection was by
helicopter.

• The mast will support various transmission equipment for television and radio.

• As a precaution, the mast was subsequently clad in a cylindrical skin of glass-reinforced plastic to prevent ice build-
up during the severe Toronto cold season.
DESIGN CONSIDERATION
The following were some of the major technical areas of concern especially the design and construction considerations relating to the prestressing operations.

The high magnitude of the

Grouting of vertical ducts would
forces to be dealt with implied
cause substantial hydrostatic
the use of a large quantity of
pressure inside the ducts.
high strength steel tendons.

Record-breaking height of the Tower

- the concreting and post-tensioning post-tension the ring beam at
operations are planned to withstand the supporting structure for
very severe weather conditions. the skypod.

At an early design stage, the

Tower shaft is constructed by
the slipform technique.
post-tensioning for the foundation.
PRESTRESSING OF THE FOUNDATION

1. FOUNDATION BASE – 2. FOUNDATION STRUCTURE –

• The foundation base consists of the Meaford-Dundas shale
formation which is a typical for the downtown area of Toronto,
because the soil in the area comprises of horizontally layered • The foundation
shales and limestones, with occasional planes of clay filled seams. structure follows the
• Borings in the soil showed that random vertical cracks and Y-shape of the tower
separations existed, which lead to the use of prestressing of the shaft.
foundation structure • The hollow core slab
has a thickness of
5.50 m.
• The live anchors of
the prestressing
cables of the tower
walls are located in
these caverns.
Foundation • The prestressing
Base operations for these
5.5m Thick Core
cables, up to 450m
long, could hence be
executed in this
Prestressing protected area
cables of without interference
tower walls
of the work on the
platform of the slip
Soil with layered form.
Hollow core
shales and
of the slab
limestones FOUNDATION SLAB
3. FORCES ACTING ON THE FOUNDATION –
The outer walls of the three tower legs are inclined with respect
to the vertical.
CENTRE LINE OF TOWER
The horizontal components of the forces in these walls due to
dead load and wind moment produce considerable tensile forces
in the foundation slab.
So three mechanisms were distinguished in which the spreading
of forces and resulting stresses was dissipated which were:
WATER WEIGHT AND OVERTURNING
• Reinforcing the foundation slab. TABLE FORCES

• Building friction forces at the interface of the rock and

concrete slab.
• Passive resistance of the rock wall around the perimeter.

POST-TENSIONING
Resulted problems of the three mechanisms proposed:
1. TENSILE STRESSES IN CONCRETE
• Frictional forces could not be relied upon because of the clay 2. FRICTION FORCES BETWEEN ROCK AND CONCRETE
seams in the soil and high pore water pressures in response 3. PASSIVE RESISTANCE OF ROCK BANK
to dynamic wind forces.
• Resisting forces along the perimeter would only be activated
after substantial horizontal movements.
HORIZONTAL FORCES ON FOUNDATION SLAB

➢ Solution
Hence, in order to prevent vertical cracking of the foundation slab and the tower walls above as well as the rock layers
bellow, Prestressing of the Foundation Slab was proposed.
4. PRESTRESSING OF THE FOUNDATION –
• Bands of the prestressing cables in the arrangement were places running below and above the slab caverns.
• Control joints 1-1 separated the three legs completely.
• A sequence for the post-tensioning operation was developed BOTTOM
such that the outer edges of the three legs remained fixed. CABLES
• In this way vertical cracks in the shale at these critical points
and a possible deterioration of its resistance could be
avoided.
• By activating the active anchors at both cable ends and the
flat jacks in the control joints in an appropriate sequence this
condition could be met. BOTTOM
• A subsequent analysis of the jack forces showed that the rock CABLES
base provided practically no frictional resistance as TOP
anticipated. CABLES
In order to reduce volume changes due to hydration heat and
shrinkage a modest dosage of cement of 210 kg per 1m3 of
concrete was used.
• Tapering of the edges around the foundation slab were
selected on the basis of a stress analysis on the interaction
between slab and rock.
• In this way a considerable
reduction of the local
shear stresses along the
edges was achieved and
the possibility of vertical
cracking of the shale
BOTTOM CABLES TOP CABLES
greatly reduced.

TAPERED EGDES PLAN OF FOUNDATION SHOWING LAYOUT OF PRESTRESSING TENDONS

SECTION THROUGH FOUNDATION
AND SECTION OF CONTROL JOINT LOCATING FLAT JACKS
PRESTRESSING THE TOWER SHAFT – DESIGN CRITERIA

• CN Tower in Toronto (Canada) is the highest free standing structure of the world SHAPE BALANCING WIND FLOW
rising to a height of 550 m. It consists of a tapered, Y-shaped, multi-cellular
concrete shaft up to 447 m and a steel antenna mast of 103 m covered by fiber
reinforced plastic cylinders.

• The tower houses various telecommunication transmission facilities. In addition

a restaurant and Observation decks at the 348 m level and an upper Observation
platform at the 447 m level are open to the general public.
Slip form construction involves pouring
• The selection of the shape and the cross section of the concrete shaft was concrete into the top of a continuously
influenced not only by statically and architectural considerations. Due to the fact moving formwork.
that only three walls, i.e. the outer walls of the three legs are sloping the
application of slip forms in casting the entire shaft became possible.

• Vertical prestressing of the tower resulted in a number of advantages and cost

saving:

i. No tensile stresses under the 50 year wind.

ii. About 75% less steel weight for the same strength, cost savings relative
to the unit prices of prestressing and ordinary reinforcement.

iii. Concentrated forces, no splices, less congestions due to reinforcements.

iv. Great reduction in the quantity of ordinary steel to be placed during the
slipping operation of the formwork.
CN Tower, Toronto Typical Dimension Of Tower Shaft
PRESTRESSING THE TOWER SHAFT – DESIGN CRITERIA

• For the extreme fiber in compression, a stress of 2500 psi was

allowed as an upper limit on the gross area of cross section. This
Pre tension
allowable stress includes all effects due to gravity loads, wind, system
and post-tensioning.

• The walls were built with a specified compressive strength of

Post tension
concrete of 5000 psi. The percentage of mild steel reinforcement system
used in the vertical direction was between 0.5 and 1.0 percent.

• The actual compressive strength of the concrete (from cylinder

tests) greatly exceeded the minimum specified concrete strength.
However, at the time of design it was felt imprudent to specify
very high strength concrete because of the many uncertainties
such as elastic shortening, shrinkage and creep, heat of hydration,
and so forth.

• Ultimate strength (limit state) analysis also showed that with the
Tendon
amount of post-tensioning and reinforcing steel furnished, a
sufficient safety factor against collapse was provided.

• The post-tensioning of the Tower :shaft consists of 144 tendons

which in turn are composed of 16 to 31 %-in. diameter strands of
seven wires each. The cable units are uniformly spread over much
of the Tower walls, with the exception of the side faces of the
wing sections.

Distribution of tendon units Tendon in prestressed

through Tower shaft. concrete
PRESTRESSING THE TOWER SHAFT – DESIGN CRITERIA

• All the Tower walls extend upwards with

approximately constant thickness from the base to
their top termination.

• A concentration of all tendons at the extreme ends of

the Tower wings would have slightly increased the
ultimate strength of the shaft.

• All the cables were anchored in the base, with the

anchor head accessible -from the hollow core of the
footing. The cables then extend to the ton of the
respective Tower walls with the top anchor head at
the termination of the walls .

• All the cables were introduced in the walls in one

piece, thus avoiding coupling devices and Upper and lower bounds of Tower prestressing force with
Anchorage of Tower tendons
intermediate stressing stages. values effectively achieved.

• This produced rather large stress elongations . It was • It shows the constraints placed upon the prestressing
also necessary to introduce some reinforcing steel for design in the Tower walls together with the effective
amount of post-tensioning eventually achieved.
temporary construction conditions, with part of the
Tower shaft unstressed and the slipform moving • It may be noted that the most economical force diagram
ahead. should follow closely the lower bound curve.

• In fact, the effective prestressing force does so only in a

very approximate manner.
Tendon elongations for various cable groups.
PRESTRESSING THE TOWER SHAFT – PRESTRESS LOSSES

• It is fair to say that an accurate prediction of prestress losses due to creep, shrinkage, elastic
shortening, and steel relaxation is difficult to determine. The basic approach taken was to compare the
conditions in the Tower, item for item, with those existing in standard bridge construction for which
experience is extensive.

1. Concrete shrinkage— The concrete in the Tower did not exhibit shrinkage characteristics that differ
markedly from the norm. In addition, much of the concrete was bound to be many months old at the
time of tensioning.

2. Elastic shortening— This would be quite variable from cable group to cable group and from level to
level. Since much of the effective prestress is derived from the dead weight of the structure and
because most of the weight would be acting before tensioning of the major cable groups (i.e., longer
cables), it was judged that the condition in the Tower was superior to a standard application.
The breakdown of anticipated losses for the longer
3. Concrete creep— The concrete in the Tower did not differ from "normal" concrete in its creep cables was:
characteristics. Since the summation of prestress from post-tensioning and from the structure's dead
weight was within the normal range, no particular departures were anticipated. Actually, the situation
would be more favorable for the longer cables since much of the creep due to dead weight prestress
would have dissipated before stressing.

4. Strand relaxation— Recent findings regarding relaxation losses were accepted as being qualitatively
correct, i.e., that losses increase as the initial strand stress increases. It was, therefore, established
that the losses to be expected in the Tower should not exceed those in normal practice. In fact, there The total loss was, in fact, so close to the traditional
was every expectation that they would be less. Furthermore, since much of the prestress effect was value of 25 ksi that it was decided to abandon the
due to weight of the structure, variations in prestress loss would have an even smaller effect on sophistication inherent in the extra 3.3 ksi and to
adopt the standard value.
performance than is normally the case.
PRESTRESSING THE TOWER SHAFT – FRICTION AND WOBBLE LOSSES

• There were several factors in the post-tensioning of the Tower that were outside the realm of traditional
experience. These included:

1. Cables that were extremely long (up to 1500 ft.).

2. Ducts that were essentially straight and vertical for their full length. The only curves of significance in most
of the ducts were those of the bottom anchorages.

3. The use of rigid sheathing. This was suggested by the prestresser, essentially as a means for increasing the
reliability of the ducts but would also have a significant effect on friction.

4. The use of galvanized sheathing. This made the ducts entirely unrusted at the time of stressing. The use of
templates to set the ducts with minimum deviations.
Friction and Wobble Losses
5. The use of "oversized" ducts for provision of space capacity.

• These conditions, if cumulated, produced uncertainties far in excess of the ones concerning other losses.
Thus, a careful procedure had to be used, involving continuous application of experience gathered during the
construction, and constant updating of procedures from newly gathered information.

• It should be noted that the manufacturer's guaranteed cable coefficients of wobble and friction were K =
0.0005 and tk = 0.2, respectively. This meant that 920 tons of vertical post-tensioning would be needed
involving the stressing of 208 cable ends.

• However, for design purposes the coefficients used were K = 0.0001 and pt = 0.15. Actually then, only 840
tons of prestressing had to be installed necessitating only 144 cable ends to be stressed. Thus, the trial and
projection method eventually saved 8 percent in materials and 30 percent in stressing operations.
INSTALLATION OF SHEATHS AND CABLE/STRANDS
• Use of rigid sheathing - as a means for increasing the reliability of the ducts but would also have a significant effect on friction.

• Rigid helically corrugated sheath made from 24-gage corrugated steel sheet were installed, with
diameters of 4 and 4½ in. Splicing was achieved by sleeving adjacent pieces with an overlapping
section of slightly larger diameter.

• The length of pieces varied from 5 to 20 ft, varying upon location.

• The sheaths were placed from the main (middle) deck - main slipform as a platform for reinforcement
steel and pouring of concrete.

Installation of duct sheaths from the "moving deck”

• Various alternate materials for the ducts(plastic tubes, semi-rigid ducts, and the forming of a hole in the slipformed walls by
means of a mandrel) and installation methods were considered.

• Rigid sheaths were selected because they were strong, were easily handled and installed, and were relatively cheap.

Series of capped sheaths at • Each cable duct was provided with a cap after every new unit was installed to prevent foreign material from entering and
base of Tower shaft. blocking the ducts.
 • The joints of the sheath were all wrapped - This technique prevented cement
paste from entering.

• Grout vents were installed in pairs at regular intervals of 100 ft, with a distance
of 5 ft between the two vents of each pair.

• The installation of cables started immediately on completion of the respective

walls.

PROCESS :

• First the anchor heads and base plates were placed.

• The strands were sleeved-in from the top, one at a time.
• First, they were unwound from the reels.
• The speed of the strand was controlled by a manual brake applied at the reel.

Stressing difficulties in placement method :

• The consecutive insertion of strands at high speed can

lead to coiling up of strands around each other inside the
duct to form a knot in zones of sharp curvature.

• In one cable group, the location of this knot was

sufficiently close to the stress anchor head (at the base) to
Simplest method - the strands were prevent stressing from the bottom end. The knot would
led directly from the reel to the anchor have been pulled towards the stress anchor head - Strands
head. then became kinked and snapped due to concentrated
overstress.
STRESSING PROCEDURE
Closeup of stressing in
• The concrete bonds to the tendons as it cures, following which the end-anchoring of the tendons
protective cavern.
is released, and the tendon tension forces are transferred to the concrete as compression by
static friction.

• The stressing method used depends on whether the tendon was stressed at the top or the
bottom.

• For bottomstressed cables, there was a region of sharp curvature just beyond the anchorage that
caused rapid stress change in the tendon in the tendon as it rounded the bend.

Strands arrive at base

through 1500-ft long
duct.

• This had the effect of absorbing much of the anchorage "set effect" that is typical
of individually wedged multistrand systems.

• There was, therefore, little to be gained by "overstressing" or overpulling the cable

and then rebasing it.
• For the topstressed tendons , the situation was different, since there was no adjacent zone of sharp
curvature.

• Overpulling was advantageous here in getting the point of maximum stress to move a considerable
distance down the cable.

• Wedges - These anchor grips remain in the concrete unit.

• Tendons were pulled to a specified pressure at which point the wedges were set.

• The complete anchor head was then pulled a specified distance and then
released back through this distance.

• For cables over 1000 ft long, the effective stressing was 2 to 3 hrs when executed
from the bas.

• For top anchorage, the stressing period was 5 - 6 hrs

GROUTING

Grouting is the process of injecting materials into cavities or cracks in concrete, masonry structures, soil, rock- mass to increase the structural load bearing
capacity . The material used for this objective is called grout.

• Construction of the Tower shaft would cover several months, extending in to the cold season.
During the extreme weather grouting could not take place because of the extremely low
temperature tower walls.
• Hence the tendons that had to be placed and stressed as work proceeded would have to be left
unprotected by a grout enclosure. Consequently, a corrosion prohibition had to be anticipated
and counteracted.
• Fresh water grout under hydrostatic pressure was not well known during the design stage so
there was a series of tests performed to explore its setting character, most suitable chemical and
physical compositions and its tendency to produce bleed water.

TESTING 1–
• The first experiment consists of series of tests using rigid ducts. The ducts were 100 and 200 ft long and were mounted on
200 ft guyed scaffolding tower .
• At first, a water-cement ratio for the grout of about 0.44 was specified. Unfortunately, this ratio, when combined with the
type of mixing equipment used which produced a grout that was excessively viscous.
• Pumping pressures became excessively high and there was too little time between mixing and the time when the grout was
no longer pumpable. Hence, an increase of the water-cement ratio to about 0.50 became necessary.
• This mix resulted in a flow cone time of approximately 12 sec., allowing for efficient pumping. An average strength of just
over 5000 psi was achieved. This strength was considered satisfactory since the main function of the grout was to be for
corrosion protection.
 • Expansive agents were also added in some of the initial tests. The intent was to counteract shrinkage and
separation from the steel sheath, But by adding expansion agents gas was produced which was forced out
of the mix and pressured to the top of the grout lift which leads to extremely porous and loose
composition. So consequently, the use of gas-producing expansive agents were abandoned and tests
without the chemical additive proved satisfactory.

TESTING 2-
• A second series of tests was performed to investigate possible problems, especially the resistance of the
concrete Tower walls against splitting. With fresh grout inside the ducts, considerable hydrostatic pressure
would exist.
• The test panel was divided into two separate strips One of the strips was transversely reinforced to verify the
effectiveness of this in stopping the propagation of cracks while the other did not have any ties across the
probable splitting region.
• The inside of the ducts was pressurized with water and tested to destruction (splitting of the concrete). The
splitting pressure varied from 300 to 509 psi. It was found that transverse reinforcement effectively stopped
cracks from extending over longer distances.
• Based on these results the following provisions were introduced into the design and construction procedure:
➢ Specify a maximum height of grout lifts not exceeding 100 ft.
➢ Provide a pressure relief valve at the inlet point which was to be set about 100 psi to prevent accidental over
pressurization.
➢ Furnish transverse reinforcing steel of one No. 4 bar at 18 in. spacing for every cable. As a result of these
procedures no splitting of the wall concrete was observed during construction Inspection of grouting
CORROSION PROTECTION
• Grout was to be used as the main agent to protect the strands against corrosion. However, since most of the cables
would have to be placed during the winter, cold temperatures would have precluded proper setting of the grout.
• This left the tendons unprotected and thus a means had to be found to protect the strands against corrosion. The use
of alcohol to fill the duct voids and various types of coatings were investigated but were found to be impractical or
insufficient.
• The method chosen was a dry-air system that eliminated moisture until the grouting could be done in the summer

The system operated as follows:

➢ the air is compressed and then passed through a filter to remove oil and other particles where upon the air is again
compressed and re-filtered.

➢ It then passes through the final dryer where the remainder of the moisture is removed. Activated alumina is used as
the drying agent.

➢ A large-diameter polyethylene pipe connected the air-drying system to the base of the Tower, where smaller pipes
connected the main pipe to the lowest grout vent in each duct.

➢ All intermediate grout vents were closed off. At the top of each duct, a fiberglass or metal cover was placed over the
exposed anchor head.

➢ The extremely dry air was then pumped into the bottom end of each duct.

➢ A measured orifice at the top of each duct ensured up to three complete air changes per hour.

➢ When eventually the fiberglass covers were removed from the anchor heads and strand, the steel was found to be
uncorroded.

➢ On this basis, it was concluded that the entire length of cable was likewise uncorroded because the top end is where
most moisture would gather, thus inducing corrosion.
AUXILIARY STRESSING OF ANCHORAGE ZONE
At the top end of the wing sections (coinciding with the base of the upper accommodation levels), three conditions arose:

1. FIRST CONDITION:
• The top anchorage of the largest group of post-tensioning units [3 x 10 cables at 700 kips
(318 tons) nominal stressing force] was to be anchored at the exterior edge of the wing
sections at a distance of about 10 ft from the central hexagonal part of the Tower.

• However, at the time of stressing, the central Tower wall would not carry substantial
loads.

• Hence, a situation existed where high stresses would be introduced at the outside edges LOADS CONCENTRATED AT OUTSIDE EDGES
(Note that shaded areas denote tensile stress)
of a multicellular truncated tower (see Fig. 1).

• This constituted a large-scale anchorage zone with high local tensile stresses.

2. SECOND CONDITION:
• Later, during construction the stress condition would reverse itself.

• Higher loads would be concentrated in the central portion due to the weight of the upper
part of the Tower walls in addition to the stage post-tensioning (see Fig. 2).
LOADS CONCENTRATED IN CENTRAL PORTION
(Note that shaded areas denote tensile stress)
AUXILIARY STRESSING OF ANCHORAGE ZONE
3. THIRD CONDITION:
• The erection and concreting of the supporting bracket walls for the upper
accommodation levels resulted in substantial horizontal loads.

• These loads were acting on the same portion of the Tower shaft (see Fig. 3), before the
supporting ring beam, which would be post-tensioned and thus act as the final lateral
support of the cantilever walls.

• This, in effect, again reversed the stress condition.

HORIZONTAL LOADS FROM BRACKET WALLS
(Note that shaded areas denote tensile stress)

- All three conditions produced high local radial tensile stresses.

- The transfer of these stresses to the central hexagonal cell had to occur within
the bounds of the slip formed Tower walls. Hence, the need for prestressing
was indicated.

- A system of stress bars was selected that allowed the placing and stressing of
ARRANGEMENT OF STRESS BARS FOR
LATERAL SUPPORT the tendons in stages.
RING BEAM (UPPER ACCOMMODATION)
- The main lateral containment of the upper accommodation structure is formed by a
post-tensioned concrete ring beam at the top of the bracket walls.

- The ring beam acts within the floor of the second level (outdoor observation) and was
constructed as the last element of the concrete base.

- The main function of the ring beam is to resist direct tension with only minor bending
due to the weight of the floor it supports.

- Consequently, the post-tensioning was arranged in a concentric and symmetrical

manner.

- The ring beam forms a twelve-sided polygon, reflecting the radial loads it will withstand
by arranging in twelve cable units, consisting of 49 wires each, so six units are present
LAYOUT OF TENDONS FOR RING BEAM
in section of the beam.

- All anchors had to be located towards the inside of the beam. This resulted in a rather intricate placing pattern which is shown schematically in Fig. 28.

- Each cable is placed in identical position, reaching around 180 deg, and staggered every 30 deg.

- All 24 anchors were stressed sequentially to ensure the closest approximation of symmetry at all times.
CONCLUSION:
• The CN Tower designed in structural steel, is a fully-prestressed concrete structure with all prestressing (or post-
tensioning) is arranged concentrically and designed to disallow tensile stresses.

• Thus, full prestressing has been provided within working load levels while loadings in excess of these levels, the
structure will become partially prestressed and tensile stresses will occur in certain portions of the concrete.

• All prestressing is essentially uniaxial. Therefore, the above statements must be qualified since tensile stresses will also
occur at working load, transverse to the main stress direction. Most of these transverse stresses are, however, quite
small.

• Shear stresses due to wind are greatly reduced because of the tapering shape of the Tower and approaches the
idealized shell structure, which for a lateral load resultant coinciding with the apex of the tangential cone, does not
produce shear stresses.

• Equilibrium to the exterior lateral load is then held by the horizontal components of the wall stresses having an
IDEALIZED TOWER STRESSES
inclination equal to that of the wall.

• Other sources of tensile stresses exist, and reinforcing steel was provided throughout for the effects of local bending,
shrinkage, temperature, torsion, and other stress conditions