CHAPTER - 3

INTRODUCTION TO PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

The Basic Idea of Pre-stressed Concrete
Definition:
Pre-stressed concrete is a concrete in which internal stresses are introduced so that the stresses
resulting from external loads are counteracted to a desired degree. Pre-stressing is preloading of
a structure before application of the required design (service) loads in such a way as to improve its
overall performance.
Pre-stressing is a method for overcoming the concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be
used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary
reinforced concrete.
Pre-stressing tendons are used to provide a clamping load which produces a compressive
stress that offsets the tensile stress that the concrete compression member would otherwise
experience due to a bending load.
As an example, consider the case of a simply supported beam made from an elastic material
which is equally strong in compression and in tension. The deflected shape of the beam and the
stress distribution over the depth of the mid-span section, which result from the application of a
uniformly distributed load w, are shown in Fig (a) blow. The principle of pre-stressing can
subsequently be used to counteract this response by applying an eccentric compression force P
to each end of the beam.
The pre-stressing forces are shown in Fig (b) together with the resultant deflected shape of the
beam and the stress distribution over the mid-span section. Figure (c) shows the response to the
combined application of the load w and the pre-stressing forces P, which is obtained by the
superposition of the response to the load w (Fig. a) and the response to the pre-stressing forces P
(Fig. b).
A comparison of the deflected shapes and mid-span stresses shown in Figures (a) and (c)
illustrates the effects of pre-stressing on the structural behavior of the beam: Not only can both
the compressive and tensile stresses (and hence, the corresponding strains) in the top and
bottom fibers of the mid-span section be reduced, but the beam deflection can also be reduced.
It should be noted that although the stress in the bottom fiber (fwb – fpb) resulting from the
combined action of the load w and the pre-stressing forces P is shown to be compressive in Fig
(c), it could be tensile depending on the relative magnitudes of fwb and fpb. Similarly, the resultant
deflection (δw- δp) shown in Fig (c) to be upward, could be downward.
Given the fact that concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension, it seems natural that
one of the most successful applications of the principle of pre-stressing has been the development
of pre-stressed concrete. A simply supported plain, unreinforced concrete beam subjected to an
increasing load will fail immediately after the development of cracks when the induced
flexural tensile stress fwb (Fig. a) exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete. In the case of
a reinforced concrete beam, suitable steel reinforcement is provided in the tension zone of the
section to carry the tensile forces required for equilibrium of the cracked section. For this
reason, a reinforced concrete beam can carry loads which exceed the cracking load by a
considerable margin.
As opposed to reinforced concrete, where the concrete is allowed to crack under service loads, the
original development of pre-stressed concrete was based on the prevention of flexural cracks
forming under service loads. This was achieved by applying the criterion of no tensile stress,
because it is generally accepted that if there are no tensile stresses present in the concrete it will
not crack.
However, this criterion has been relaxed with the subsequent development of pre-stressed
concrete and it is currently common practice to allow some tension to develop in the concrete. As
 shown in Fig. above, the tensile stresses induced by the load can be neutralized to any desired
degree by providing suitable pre- stressing.
With the subsequent development of the concept of partial pre-stressing significant tension and
controlled cracking are allowed to develop at service load levels, in much the same way as in
reinforced concrete. The latest schools of thought on pre-stressed concrete embody the view
that partially pre-stressed concrete occupies the range between reinforced concrete and fully pre-
stressed concrete (i.e. no tension is allowed to develop at service load levels). From this viewpoint
reinforced concrete and fully pre-stressed concrete represent the two boundaries of the complete
range of possibilities which exist for partially pre- stressed concrete and, as such, are two special
cases of partially pre-stressed concrete.
It is apparent from Fig. above that the use of pre-stressing will enable a designer to provide a
structure of which the deflections at service load levels can be made much less than those of its
reinforced concrete counterpart. This benefit is obtained in addition to the bonus of being in a
position to provide a structure which is relatively crack-free at service load levels.

Advantages of a PC member

 No cracking since tension is avoided.

 Deflection controlled
 Smaller cross-section
 Efficient use of high strength materials (concrete & steel)
 Improved resistance to shear and repeated loads.

Methods of Pre-stressing

In pre-stressed concrete, the most commonly used method of applying the pre-stressing force
to the concrete is by tensioning high-strength reinforcement ( commonly referred to as
tendons) against the concrete prior to the application of imposed loads. Two different processes
can be distinguished in this regard:
1. Pre-tensioning: - Involves stretching of the tendons between external anchorages before the
concrete is placed, and the jacking force is released after the fresh concrete hardened and
reached the desired strength. In this method,
 Tensioning is applied using hydraulic jack or mechanical device.
 High strength concrete is used. (> C-30)
 Steam curing to accelerate hardening of concrete is used.
 Massive end anchorages are required.
 Stress is transferred by bonds/friction from the pre-stressed tendons to the concrete
when we cut from the casting bed.
2. Post-tensioning: - Hollow conduits containing the unstressed tendons are placed in the forms
to the desired profile before pouring of the concrete. When the concrete hardens and gains
sufficient strength, the tendons are tensioned where they are anchored by special fitting at the
far end of the member and then anchored at the jacking end by similar fitting after which the
jack is removed. The jacking force is usually applied against the ends of the hardened concrete
eliminating the need for massive abutments.
The advantage of this method is the ease with which tendons eccentricity (profile) can be varied
along the span. (e.g. for continuous beams).
Effects of Pre-stressing
Pre-stressing is simply a means by which a controllable set of forces are applied to a
structure to counteract the stresses induced by loads (e.g. dead loads and live loads).
The effects of pre-stressing with regard to the development of stresses are illustrated by
considering the rectangular beam section shown in Fig (a) below.

If a moment M = 286 kNm is applied to the section, the resulting stresses at the top and bottom
of the section can be calculated from,
My
f 
I
Where y is the distance from the top (or bottom) fiber to the centroidal axis and I is the second
moment of area of the section about the centroidal axis. Taking tension positive and
compression negative, this calculation yields a stress of –5.94 MPa at the top and a stress of
+5.94 MPa at the bottom, as shown in Fig (b). The concrete can easily carry the compressive
stress at the top of the section, but will most probably crack under the tensile stress at the
bottom because it cracks at a much lower stress, which lies in the range of 50% to 75% of this
value.
As a first attempt to neutralize the tensile stresses in the section, an axial compression force P =
2258 kN is taken to act at the same time as the moment of 286 kNm (see Fig. c). This axial force
induces an additional uniform compressive stress of –5.94 over the section, which is calculated
from f = –P/A, where A is the area of the section. The total stresses resulting from the
simultaneous application of M and P are obtained by adding the stresses which are separately
produced by each of these actions. As shown in Fig (c), a total stress of –11.88 MPa is obtained at
the top and a zero stress is obtained at the bottom. The concrete will be able to carry these
stresses for the strengths normally used in prestressed concrete structures.
The fairly large force of 2258 kN may be reduced by applying it eccentrically. Therefore, as a
next step, a force P = 1127 kN is applied at an eccentricity of 127 mm, measured from the
centroid of the section, as shown in Fig (d). The additional stress which arises from the
eccentricity is calculated from f = Pey/I, where e is the eccentricity as defined above. The
stresses at the top and bottom of the section as produced by the various components of load
are summarized in Fig.(d), from which it may be seen that P causes a zero stress at the top and a
compression of –5.94 MPa at the bottom. The total stresses, which include those produced by M,
are seen to be 5.94 MPa at the top and zero at the bottom. When these results are compared to
those obtained in the previous case, the beneficial effect of applying P eccentrically
becomes clear: The tensile stresses in the section can still be completely neutralised even though
the magnitude of P has been reduced by half, and in the process the total compressive stress in
the top fiber has also been reduced.

As a final example in this regard, consider the case where the compression force P is further
reduced to 751 kN but its eccentricity is increased to 254 mm, as shown in Fig. (e). Also
shown are the stresses produced in the top and bottom fibers of the section by the various
components of load. Once again, a total bottom fiber stress of zero is obtained while a total
compression of –3.96 MPa is obtained at the top, which is even smaller than before. This result
is consistent with the previous finding that an increased eccentricity has a beneficial effect as far
as the total stresses are concerned. However, it may be seen that the eccentric force acting on its
own causes a tension of (3.96 _ 1.98) = 1.98 MPa at the top. Although this tension is probably
not large enough to cause the concrete to crack, it serves to illustrate that a larger eccentricity
can be detrimental in the absence of external load (represented here by M), even though it is
beneficial when the external load is present. This finding is important for design because it
clearly shows that the critical stresses may arise either in the loaded or in the unloaded structure.
These examples are intended to illustrate the effects of pre-stressing on the development of stress
in the section, and are not intended to show that limiting the total tensile stress in the
section to zero is necessarily beneficial or not.
Another important effect of pre-stressing on structural behavior is its impact on deflections at
service load levels. This effect can be qualitatively investigated with reference to Fig. above. In
the case of the simply supported beam considered here, the externally applied load w will
produce a downward deflection (see Fig. ( a) at the beginning) while the pre-stressing force P,
which is applied at an eccentricity e, will cause an upward deflection (see Fig. (b) at the
beginning). The total deflection of the beam under the combined actions of the external load
and the pre-stressing force is obtained by adding the deflections yielded by each load
acting separately (see Fig. (c) at the beginning). Because the deflections caused by the two
components of load are opposite, it is clear that the downward deflection produced by the
external load is always reduced by the presence of pre-stressing and, depending on the relative
magnitudes of the two components of deflection, the resultant deflection can be upward. This
observation, once again, points to the fact that the designer is working between various limits,
and that he may find that although the deflection of the loaded structure is small, the upward
deflection of the unloaded structure is unacceptably large. Such a situation can arise in cases
where the live load to dead load ratio is large.

Basic concepts

Different concepts are used to explain the behavior of PC member.

 The stress concept: -
 Tensile stresses due to external loading are counteracted by compressive stresses due to
pre-stress resulting the final stress in the extreme fiber to be either compressive or zero.
 As no tension cracks develop, the member (concrete) is transformed from brittle to elastic
material.
The following two cases shall be considered.
 Concentric tendon or centroidal pre-stressing.
Let, P = Pre-stressing force
M = Moment due to external load
I = Moment of Inertia
A = Area (cross-sectional area).
The final stress in the section at y distance from the NA (centroid) is
P My   for top fiber
f   
A I   for bottom fiber
 Eccentric tendon (eccentric pre-stressing)
The stress at any point y along the section may be computed from
P Pey My   for top fiber
f    
A I I   for bottom fiber
Example-1: A simply supported PC beam of 400 mm x 600mm is loaded with a total uniform
load of 42.7kN/m (including self-wt) over a span of 6m. Sketch the distribution of stresses at mid
span and end sections if the pre-stressing force is 1920 kN and the tendon is
a) Centroidal
b) Eccentric located at 200mm above the bottom fiber.

 The strength concept: - (The Internal couple method)

In this method pre-stressing is considered as a combination of high strength steel and concrete
with the steel taking tension and concrete taking compression so that the two materials form a
resisting couple against the external moment.
To illustrate the use of this approach to analyzing a pre-stressed concrete beam section,
consider the section shown in Fig. below subjected to a moment M = 286 kNm. The pre-stressed
reinforcement is placed at an eccentricity e = 254 mm and carries a tension T = 751 kN. This
example is the same as that shown in Fig (e) above.

Note: - C & T in PC beams are constant and the lever arm Z varies with the magnitude of the
external moment (unlike the case of RC beams where the forces C & T increase with increasing
moment and Z is constant).
The stress at any point on a cross section may be obtained using
C Cec y P Pec y
f     ,
A I A I
Where
ec = eccentricity of C w. r. to the centroidal axis
A, I = cross-sectional area & moment of inertia of the gross section
C = total compressive force acting on the cross-section.
 The Balanced Load Concept
It is a technique of balancing the external load by selecting a pre-stressing force and tendon profile
that creates transverse load acting opposite to the external load. This method is the most widely
used method for post-tensioned structures.
wb L2 8Pe
M int  M ext , Pe  ,  wb 
8 L2
Where: wb- is the balanced load which may be equal to w or only a portion of it.
P M net y ( w  wb ) L2
 f   , where M net 
A I 8

F y  0  Pb  2 P sin
P cos M net y
f 
A I
Where: Mnet is the moment developed by (P-Pb). For small values of ; f  P  M net y
A I
Example-2: Do example 1 using:
i) The strength concept
j) The balanced load concept
Materials

Concrete- high strength > C-30 & class I works used.

Steel – high strength steel with fpu > 1000 MPa

Permissible Stresses
f pk
Steel: - In design, the stress of pre-stressing steel at ULS is limited to 0.9 and the strain
s
εu< 0.01.
- Maximum Stress during tensioning

0.8 f pu
f P ,max  

0.9 f p 0.2 ( proof stress)
- Stress after transfer (initial stress)

0.75 f pu
f Pi  

0.85 f p 0.2 ( proof stress)
- Stress in tendons after all losses (effective stress)
 fpe < 0.6 fpu
Concrete: -
 At transfer, fct < 0.5 fci – compression
ftt < ftki – tension,
Where: fci - cube strength of concrete at the moment of transfer.
ftki - tensile strength of concrete at the moment of transfer.
 When loaded by service loads
fcw < 0.4 fcu --- compression
ftw < ftk --- tension
Losses in PC member
The initial pre-stressing force (Pi) is less than the jacking force (Pj) because of losses due to:
 Elastic shortening of concrete
 Slip at the anchorage
 Frictional losses
 Shrinkage and creep of concrete
 Relaxation of highly stressed steel

Lump sum estimate of pre-stress losses

Loss due to Pre-tensioning Post-tensioning

- Elastic shortening of concrete 4% 1%
- Creep of concrete 6% 5%
- Shrinkage of concrete 7% 6%
- Creep in steel 5% 6%
22% 18%

Stress in a PC- beam

Two cases must be checked.

Stresses immediately after pre-stressing
Pi Pi e M DL  f ct
f1    
A S1 S1   f tt
Pi Pi e M DL
f2     f ct
A S2 S2
Where: S1 & S2 - Section modulus of top & bottom section
MDL – BM due to self-weight
Stresses after all losses
P Pe ( M DL  M LL )
f1     f cw
A S1 S1
P Pe ( M DL  M LL )
f2      f tw
A S2 S2
Where: MLL – BM due to live load.
Ex: - The post-tensioned simply supported concrete beam shown in Fig. below is subjected to a
uniformly distributed load of 15kN/m including self weight. Calculate the extreme top and bottom
fiber stresses at mid span if the tendon force is 1334 kN.

Ans.

ftop=-13.52MPa and fbot=-1.30MPa