PRESTRESSED

CONCRETE
STRUCTURES
Department of Civil Engineering

BY,
A.DINESH
ROLL NO:137R5A0101
CMRTC.

CONTENTS

Introduction

How to make prestressed concrete

Advantages

Difference between RCC & PSC

PSC in Construction Industry

INTRODUCTIONA Brief History

Eugene freyssinet(1879-1962)

The
beginning

Eugene Freyssinet (1879-1962) devoted much of his

life to the research development and construction of
prestressed concrete structures and is rightly named
the father of prestressed concrete. It is through his
dedicated research that many of the techniques and
practices used today to build spectacular and
aesthetic structures are possible.
Freyssinet achieved the first success with prestressed
concrete in marine construction, having secured the
tender to correct the threatened foundations of the
LeHarve marine terminal using prestress techniques.

Precast
pretensioned
hollow formed
slabs

La grande arch in
Paris was
constructed using
massive 70m span
post tensioned I
beams to carry the
upper decks of three
floors.
Prestressed
concrete is used today for

large building works in many civil

engineering fields such as ..

Today

Roads
Buildings
Bridges
Water
Energy
Public facilities etc..

INTRODUCTION
contd

A prestressed concrete member is one in which there have

been introduced internal stresses of such a magnitude, and also
distribution, that the stresses resulting from external loading are
counteracted to a desired degree.
WHY PRESTRESS ?
Prestressing applies an initial compressive axial force to the
concrete which greatly reduces or eliminates the internal
stresses.
It does this applying a tensile stress to a steel cable running
through the concrete. The steel cable is then anchored and the
compressive force is then transferred to the concrete by the
bond forces

The benefits of prestressing are :1.

2.

3.

Cracking is greatly reduced or eliminated, and

Applying the prestressing force below the
neutral axis induces the moments which oppose
those caused by the externally applied loads,
thus significantly reducing deflection.
Member sections are smaller than reinforced
concrete sections for the same imposed loads..

Based on the method of applying

prestress to the concrete member, the
Prestressing can be classified as:-

PRE-TENSIONING METHOD .

POST-TENSIONING METHOD.

PRE-TENSIONING

Pre tensioning is one method of applying prestress,thus

Tendons either pass through a single mould or a line of moulds

for multiple members arranged end to end and can be attached
at one end to fixed anchorage.
The tendons are then tensioned from the fixed anchorage
between an external independent anchorage to give the
required tensile force in the tendon.
The tendons are then held in place while the concrete is poured.
When the concrete has hardened sufficiently the ends of the
tendons are slowly released from the anchorages.The tendons
are restrained from gaining their original length by the
development of bond stresses between the concrete and the
tendon, and it is these bond stresses that transfer the
compressive stress to the concrete.

The tendons are then finally trimmed off as

shown below.

POST-TENSIONING

Post-Tensioning is another method of applying prestress to a concrete

member, thus-

The tendon is placed in the correct position in the formwork

with the dead-end anchorage and live end anchorage, through
which the tendon passes.
The concrete is then poured and left to harden.
When the concrete has gained sufficient strength a jack is
attached to the live end anchorage and the tendon stressed to
the required force. The operation is to be carefully done as any
error could impair the structural integrity of the member.
The tension force in the tendon is transferred to the concrete as
a compressive force by the reactions at the anchorages.The jack
is then removed.

Dead-end
anchorage

To prevent the tendon

from slipping back it is
locked into the
anchorage by means of
a split wedge located in
the barrel of the
recessed anchorage.

Tendons used for prestressing generally

consists of several high strength steel wires of
small diameter wrapped around a similar wire.

This is called a
prestressing
strand /
Tendons. Made
of high strength
steel, it will
soon be
embedded in
concrete.

1.
2.

Based on how the tendons are used ,they can be

classified as
Bonded tendons
Unbonded tendons.
Bonded tendons can also be used. The process is
essentially the same except that the prestressing
force is transferred to the concrete both by reactions
at the anchorages and by the bond stresses between
the concrete and the bonded tendon.
Unbonded tendons are normally assembled under
factory conditions. They consists of strands or
wires that are wrapped or encased in plastic having
been first coated with grease or a bituminous
material.

In this floor
construction
bonded tendons
are provided in the
beams and the
unbonded tendons
in the ribs of the
trough slab.

BONDED
UNBONDED

The photograph
shows the
tendon layout for
a post-tensioned
flat slab.

The tendons are placed in position before the concrete is

poured.When the concrete has gained sufficient strength,
the tendons are jacked to a predetermined prestress force.

When concrete has gained sufficient strength the tendon is

stressed and then the sleeve is filled with grout under pressure
through tubes placed at intervals along the sleeve.

The grout bonds the tendons to the sleeve thus enabling the
transfer of stress from the tendons to the concrete.

How Prestressed concrete is made

It all begins at the prestressed concrete plant.

The prestressing
strand is stretched
across the casting
bed.

Anchorages embedded in the concrete member are generally

required only for post tensioning. Pre tensioned members are
manufactured and are anchored by bond stresses rather than
anchorages.
One anchorage simply holds the end of the tendon in position ,
while the other is used with the jack to stress the tendon. Each
anchorage is attached to the end of the tendon before the
concrete is poured .The type of anchorage used depends on the
number of tendons and whether they are strands or wires.

A prestressing jack is
attached to the outside
plate of the anchorage
through which the ends
of the tendons project.
Once the jack has been
connected to the
tendons, stressing can
begin. The
predetermined
stressing force can be
applied to each tendon
individually. The force is
applied according to the
design engineers
specifications.

Special trucks bring

the concrete to the
casting bed where
the pouring begins.

Once the
pouring is
complete, a
tarp is placed
over the form
and applied to
cure the
cement

The prestressing strands

are cut and the concrete
form is removed from the
casting bed.

The ends are

cleaned and the
prestressing
strands are sealed
with a protective
coating

The end-product
is shipped to a
building site.

Bond Stresses

The prestress force in a bonded tendon is

transferred to the concrete by bond stresses.
There are two stages at which bond stresses are
considered in the design of prestressed concrete
elements.

At Transfer, the tendons of a predetermined

element are released, and the prestress force is
transferred to the concrete by bond stresses.
Flexural bond stresses develop when members are
subjected to external loading. However ,such
stresses are likely to be negligible until the
member has developed flexural cracks.

ADVANTAGES

Improved resistance to shearing forces

Reduce the shear forces developed at the support

sections

Stiffer

Indirect long term savings is more.

Economy for long span structures

COMPARISON BETWEEN RCC & PSC

Tensile Strength
Stiffness
Shear
Cracking & deflection
Serviceability
Economy
Safety

Prestressed concrete in construction

industry

It is well established fact that the basic economy of

prestressed concrete lies in its high strength to weight
and strength to cost ratios , its resistance to fire &
corrosion, & its versatility and adaptability.

It is ideally suited for

Long span Bridges

Multistory buildings-Flat slabs

Highway 50 Bridge over Osage River in Missouri Land Crossing West Span and Abutment

The Flat Slab flooring

system incorporates
prestressed concrete
units designed for easy
and fast placement
while requiring the
minimum on site work
to obtain a finished
floor and ceiling.

The large component

units are craned into
position, providing an
immediate working
platform which, with the
addition of an in situ
concrete topping, gives a
suspended floor with a
flat, steel formed soffit.
Temporary propping is
required for longer
spans.

Summary

How to deal with the low tensile strength of concrete by

prestressing the member.
The mechanics of the prestressing system using a row of
books as example.
How the prestressing force is applied to a member at site.
A brief history of the development of prestressing from its
inventor Eugene Freyssinet up to the modern day.
The methods of prestressingPre tensioned prestressing,
Post tensioned Prestressing,
Bonded and unbonded tendons,
Anchorages,
Bond stresses.

THANK YOU