REINFORCED AND

PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

Course Instructor: Engr. Arif Asghar Gopang

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lecture students will be able:
 To describe principles of prestressing, prestressed concrete,
material used in prestressing, methods of prestressing.

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 PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

 Prestressed concrete is the type of concrete where initial

compressive stresses are induced in the concrete before putting it
to actual use.
 In this concrete, steel has been tensioned to induce compressive
stresses.
 Pre-stressing is generally a way to overcome concrete weakness in
tension.
 The concept can be clearly understood by the example of a barrel.
 In the application of prestress, the usual procedure is to tension
high-strength-steel elements, called tendons, and anchor them to
the concrete, which resists the tendency of the stretched steel to
shorten after anchorage and is thus compressed. 3
 AN EXAMPLE OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

o The metal band induce initial hoop compression, to

counteract the hoop tension caused by filling a liquid in
the barrel.

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 AN EXAMPLE OF PRESTRESSED
CONCRETE

o The compressive force is being applied from the both

sides to a series of books in order to carry all the books. 5
 NEED FOR PRESTRESSING CONCRETE

 To offset the deficiency of tensile strength in concrete, steel

reinforcement is provided near the bottom of simple beams to
carry the tensile stresses.
 To increase the strength of entire section of concrete.
 To reduce the cracks in the structural members.

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NEED FOR PRESTRESSING CONCRETE

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NEED FOR PRE-STRESSING CONCRETE

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NEED FOR PRE-STRESSING CONCRETE

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 COMPARISON OF PSC WITH RC
 In RCC beams, the concrete in the compression side of the
neutral axis alone is effective and the concrete in the tension
side is ineffective. But, in the prestressed beams, the entire
section of concrete is effective to resist the external loads.
 Reinforced concrete beams are generally heavy. Prestressed
concrete beams are lighter.
 RCC beams being heavy and massive are more suitable in
situations where the weight is more desired than strength. Pre
stressed beams are very suitable for heavy loads and long
spans.

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 COMPARISON BETWEEN PRE-STRESSED WITH
REINFORCED CONCRETE

 PSC is more durable since there are no cracks where in RC

tensile cracks are unavoidable.
 Dead weight of P.S.C. member is much less compared to what
is required for R.C.C. member. The dead weight of P.S.C
member is about one-third of equivalent R.C. members.
 The deformation of P.S.C. members is much less compared to
that for an equivalent R.C. member. In case of beams
deflection of P.S.C. beams is about one - Fourth of that of
equivalent R.C. beams

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 ADVANTAGES OF PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
 Longer span length increases untroubled floor space and
parking facilities.
 Thinner slabs, that are important for high rise building as with
the same amount of cost, it can construct more slabs than
traditional thicker slabs
 As the span length is larger, fewer joints are needed than
traditional RC structures
 Because of fewer joints, maintenance cost is reduced during
the design life as joints are the major locus of weakness in a
concrete building
 Long-term Durability
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 ADVANTAGES OF PSC
 It resists stresses are higher than normal RCC structures and is
free from crack
 The prestressing technique has eliminated the weakness of
concrete in tension and hence crack free members of structure
are obtained
 Prestressed concrete beams have usually low deflection

 The spans of prestressed beams and girders are longer

compared with that of reinforced concrete
 Possibility of steel corrosion and subsequent concrete
deterioration is declined because concrete is crack-free
 Lower depth of structural member.
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 MATERIALS USED IN PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE

 Ordinary mild steel and deformed bars used in R.C.C, these

are not used in PSC (Prestressed concrete) because their yield
strength is not very high.
 If mild steel or High yielding strength deformed (HYSD) bars
are used then very little pre-stress will be left after the losses
and will be of no use for us.
 Therefore, high tensile strength steel is used for prestressing.
 In addition to the high strength, the steel used in prestresing
must have a higher ultimate elongation.

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 WIRE
 A prestressing wire is a single unit made of steel.
 The nominal diameters of the wire are 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8
mm.
 The different types of wires are plain wire and indented wire
( having indents, depressions, or edges with a zigzag line).

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 TENDONS

 Tendons are high strength tensile wires available in various

diameter from 1.5mm to 8mm. Table gives the ultimate tensile
strength of steel wires used for prestressing

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TENDONS

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 WIRE STRAND OR CABLES

 A strand or cable is made of a bundle of wires spun together.

 The overall diameter of a cable or stand is from 7 to 17mm.

 They are used for post-tensioning systems.

 The different types of strands are two-wire strand, three wire

strand, seven wire strand.

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 BARS

 A tendon can be made of a single steel bar.

 The diameter of a bar is much larger than that of a wire.
 High tensile steel bars of diameter 10mm or more are also
used in prestressed concrete.

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 CONCRETE

 Since high tensile steel is used in PSC, the concrete used should
also be of good quality and high strength.
 High strength concrete is used to reduce losses due to elastic
shortening (Due to creation of compressive stresses, tendons as
well as concrete try to shorten)
 These mixes have high strength and a high value of modulus of
elasticity of concrete which results in less deflection.
 The concrete used in PSC should be well compacted. High
strength concrete is used in PSC for following reasons:
 Use of high strength concrete results in smaller sections.
 High strength concrete offers high resistance in tension, shear,
bond and bearing. 20

 Less loss of prestress occurs with high strength concrete.

 TECHNIQUES OF PRESTRESSING

 Pre-tensioning
 Post-tensionsing

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 PRETENSIONING

 In this method, the tendons are tensioned between two

anchorages before the concrete is casted.
 The concrete is then placed and tendons are become bonded to
concrete throughout their length.
 After hardening of concrete, the tendons are released by
cutting them at the anchorages.
 The tendons tend to regain their original length by shortening
and in this process transfer through bond a compressive stress
to the concrete

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PRE-TENSIONING

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PRE-TENSIONING

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 POST-TENSIONING
 In this method, the casting of concrete is done first and then
tensioning is done.
 The tendons are positioned in the form before the concrete is
placed.
 Afterwards, once the concrete has gained strength, the cables
are pulled tight or tensioned and anchored against the outer
edges of the concrete.
 In post-tensioning method, tendons are coated with grease or a
bituminous material to prevent them from becoming bonded to
concrete.

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POST-TENSIONING

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PRE-TENSIONING VS POST-TENSIONING
Pre-tensioning Post-tensioning
1. Concrete is prestressed with 1. Pre-stressing is done after
tendons before it is placed in the concrete attains sufficient
position strength

This method is developed due This method is developed due

to bonding to bearing
It is preferred when structural It is post-tensioned when
element is small and easy to structural element is heavy
transport

Similar prestressed members Products are changed

are prepared according to structure
Pre-tensioning members are Cables are used in place of
produced in mould wires and jacks are used for
stretching
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THANKS