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cracking in partially
prestressed beams
Arthur H. Nilson
Professor of Structural Engineering
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
arly in the development of pre- This kind of design, where the limit-
E stressed concrete, the goal of pre-
stressing was the complete elimination
ing tensile stress in the concrete at full
service load is zero, is generally known
of concrete tensile stress at service as full prestressing, while an alternative
loads. The concept was that of an en- approach, in which a certain amount of
tirely new, homogeneous material tensile stress is permitted in the con-
which would remain untracked and re- crete at full service load, is called par-
spond elastically up to the maximum tial prestressing.
anticipated loading. Abeles,l Thurlimann,2 Leonhardt,3
and others have pioneered in the de- tion centroid to the bottom surface and
velopment of partially prestressed con- the section modulus with reference to
crete construction. They have con- the bottom surface.
vincingly demonstrated its advantages The ACI Code4 permits concrete
over full prestressing, and have shown tension of 6 V7 : psi at full service load,
that substantially improved perfor- slightly less than the usual modulus
mance, reduced cost, or both, may be of rupture. If explicit calculation of
obtained through partial prestressing. deflection indicates that it is within
Fully prestressed beams may exhibit allowable limits, a tensile stress of
an undesirable amount of upward cam- 12 \/f e ' psi is permitted.
ber due to the eccentric prestressing In each case, the tensile stress is to
force, a displacement which is only be calculated on the basis of properties
partially counteracted by the gravity of the untracked cross section. Since
loads producing downward deflection. the higher stress limit is well above the
This tendency is aggravated by creep modulus of rupture, this limit corre-
in the concrete, which magnifies the sponds to a nominal stress only.
upward displacement due to the pre- It is further stated in the ACI Code
stressing force, but has little influence that a nominal tensile stress higher than
on the downward deflection due to
12V7' psi is permitted when it is
live loads, which may be only inter-
shown experimentally or analytically
mittently applied.
that performance will not be impaired.
Should heavily prestressed members
The above provisions clearly permit
be overloaded and fail, they may do so
use of partially prestressed concrete
in a brittle way, rather than in a ductile
members.
manner as for beams with a smaller
amount of prestress. Furthermore, ex-
perience indicates that in many cases Flexural Stresses
improved economy results from use of a After Cracking
combination of unstressed bar steel and
high strength prestressing steel ten- At the full service load stage, partially
dons. prestressed beams are cracked, al-
though generally both concrete and
steel stresses remain within the elastic
Present ACI Code range. While service load stresses at a
Provisions cracked cross section are of secondary
importance, compared with the
The tensile stress f2 at the bottom of strength and safety of the member
a concrete beam may be found from should it be overloaded, calculation of
the expression: such stresses may be necessary for sev-
P r / ec 2 M, eral reasons:
f2 = A I 1 r L I S (1) 1. For prestressed members, crack
,\ 2
widths at service load are related to the
in which P e is the effective prestress- increase in steel stress past the stage of
ing force after losses, A, is the area of concrete decompression; consequently,
the concrete section, e is the eccen- the service load steel stress must be
tricity of the prestressing force, r is known, as well as the stress at decom-
the radius of gyration of the concrete pression.
se-tion, M, is the total moment due to 2. An accurate calculation of both
dead and live loads, and c 2 and S 2 are, elastic and creep deflection at service
re>pectively, the distance from the see- load requires that curvatures be based
y Ci 3
untracked
dP conc. centroid 2 -
ds J e c2 cracked r
neutral axis
S A P- -
R
^ e y
c
untracked
conc. centroid t dP
cl e ds cracked
L
neutral axis
F F
AP fP
A s fs
(d) Forces on
(c) Decompression (e) Resulting stresses
forcecracked section
on actual, not nominal, stress and strain For cracked prestressed concrete
distributions. beams, matters are more complicated.
3. If fatigue is a factor in the design, The neutral axis location and effec-
it is necessary to determine actual stress tive section properties depend not only
ranges in both concrete and steel. on the geometry of the cross section
4. Finally, it may be necessary to and the material properties, as for rein-
compute stresses in the cracked section forced concrete beams, but also on the
to demonstrate compliance with design axial prestressing force and the loading.
codes. The axial force is not constant after
For an ordinary reinforced concrete cracking, but depends on the loading
beam, calculation of stresses at a and on the section properties.
cracked section is a simple matter. The The effective cross section of a typi-
transformed section concept permits cal partially prestressed beam at ser-
use of the familiar equations of vice load is shown in Fig. 1(a). The
mechanics for homogeneous elastic member shown includes both prestress-
beams to locate neutral axis, determine ing steel of area AP and nonprestressing
section properties, and calculate steel bar reinforcement of area A, as
stresses. Alternately, explicit equations is commonly the case. It is assumed that
may be derived for nonhomogeneous the member has cracked, that both
reinforced concrete sections.5 concrete and steel are stressed only
74
P uncracke
.
._._.._.
s__ __
ds concrete
N
C2
neutral axis=*
ng As.
^--
that the moment of all internal forces The concrete stress- at the top surface of
about the line of action of R must be the beam is given by Eq. (10). Specific-
zero. These internal forces are based on ally:
the concrete stresses and the stresses
fp = fp1 + fp2 +f53. (13)
acting on the transformed steel areas
as shown in Fig. 2(b). f8 = f83 (14)
The moment equation for the inter-
nal forces about the external resultant 10=103 (15)
R results in . a cubic equation for y
which can be solved by successive
trials. Once y is known, the effective Summary of Stress
transformed area Apt and moment of Review Procedure
inertia 'at of the cracked section, about
its own centroid c l from the top sur- The procedure for calculating elastic
face, can be found. The incremental stresses in cracked prestressed concrete
stresses sought, as loading passes from beams is- summarized briefly as follows:
Stage (2) to Stage (3) are 1. Calculate the effective stress in the
tendon after losses, fpl = fie, using
R Re*ci* Eq. (2).
fc3 T" (10)
Ict 2. Find f,2, the increase in stress in
the tendon as the member passes to a
fp3 = y (11 hypothetical decompression stage, with
At lot cl#) -1
Rc + Re (d, ) the aid of Eq. (7) and Eq. (4).
3. Use Eq. (8) to determine the fic-
n R + Re *(dt,B cl) (12 titious force F needed to produce the
s3 a
f [ - A ct Ict ) decompression stage.
where geometric terms are as defined 4. Apply an equal and opposite force
in Fig. 2. F to the member, in combination with
The final stress in the tendon is now the moments due to dead and live
found by superimposing the stresses of loads. The resultant force R = F has
Eqs. (2), (4), and (11). That in the bar an equivalent eccentricity given by
reinforcement is given by Eq. (12). Eq. (9). Find the neutral axis of the
76
cracked section and the section prop- S1 = 1664 in.3 c2 = 16.9 in.
erties by the usual methods of me-
S2 = 1290 in. r2 = 103 in .2
chanics.
5. Determine 10 = f C3, the maximum Then using Eq. (1):
compression in the concrete at service
load using Eq. (10), the service load Pc( F eG
f2=A`1 22 S
J {Mt
2)
tension in the nonprestressing steel re-
inforcement, f8 = fs3, from Eq. (12),
and the incremental tensile stress fp3 _ _ 123,000 11.9 x 16.9
in the tendon from Eq. (11). The total 212 ( 1+ 103 +
tension f, in the tendon is given by
312,000 X 12
Eq. (13).
1290
+1186 psi
Design Example
This stress greatly exceeds the modu-
Data lus of rupture, indicating that the sec-
tion has indeed cracked. Analysis will
The partially prestressed T-beam proceed according to the method de-
shown in cross section in Fig. 3(a) is scribed above.
subjected to superimposed dead and From Eq. (2), the effective stress in
service live load moments of 38 and the tendon when Pe acts alone is
191 'ft-kips (52 and 259 kN m) in addi-
tion to a moment of 83 ft-kips (113 fpl = Jpe = Pe/`gyp
kNm) due to its own weight. = 123,000/0.863
An effective prestressing force of 123
kips (547 kN) is applied using six = 143,000 psi
Grade 250 I/2 -in. (12.7 mm) diameter Then, with reference to Fig. 1(b)
strands. Two nonprestressing steel and using Eq. (7) the change in strain
Grade 60 No. 8 bars are located close in the tendon as the section is decom-
to the tension face of the beam. pressed is
The elastic moduli for the concrete,
tendon steel, and bar steel are, respec- Pe e2
ep2 A\1 + r2
tively, 3.61 x 10 6, 27 x 106 , and 29 x e
10 6 psi (24,900, 186,000, and 200,000 _ 123,00011.92
N/mm2). The modulus of rupture of
212x3.61x10 6 (1+ 103
the concrete is 500 psi (3.5 N/mm2).
= 0.0004
Required
Thus, the corresponding increase in
Find the stresses in the concrete, pre- stress in the tendon is found from Eq.
stressing steel, and bar reinforcement (4) to be
at the full service load.
/p2 = EPEp2
Solution
= 27 x 106 x 0.0004
'First, the tensile stress in the concrete
at the bottom of the beam will be = 10,800 psi
checked, assuming the member is un- To obtain decompression of the con-
cracked. The properties of the un- crete, the fictitious external tension
cracked cross section are given by Eq. (8):
Ae =212in2 c1 = 13.1 in. F = AA(fpl + fp2)
PCI JOURNAL /July-August 1976 77
r4T1
^ 5
13.1
f r111.9
16.9 j 1
uncracked
17 30 conc. centroid
5 3 Ap = 0.863 in2
A5= 1.57 in2
I^-8
(a) Member cross section
1
R
r'4_:--j 3.15 fc3
5 7.62 10.77
L_ y= 13.4 cracked
ro _
- conc. centroid
25 crack e d .
neutral axis
f(25)
^= np Ap=6.46 in 2c3 y
n s As= 12.61 in2
fc3(2y )
78
ments of the partial areas about the top fp = fp1 + fp2 1p3
surface locates the centroid c 1 = 7.62
= 143,000 + 10,800 + 12,700
in. from the top of the section. Section
properties are = 166,500 psi (1148 N/mm2)
A0t = 133 in.2 ICt = 9232 in .4
while the stress in the bar reinforce-
orce-
The eccentricity of the force R with ment
ment is
respect to the centroid of the cracked
transformed section is I8 = f83 = 16,100 psi (111 N/mm2)
and that at the top surface of the con-
e=16.25-13.1-}-7.62
crete is
= 10.77 in.
fc = fc3 = 2180 psi (-15 N/mm2)
Now the incremental stress in the
concrete and steel can be found from
Eqs. (10), (11), and (12):
Additional Comments
R Re"ci
fc3 = 1. The stress increase in the tendon
A et lot
as the beam is brought to full service
_ 133,000 _
load is about 17 percent of the effec-
133 tive prestressing force. In calculating
133,000xlO.77x7.62 service load stresses in partially pre-
9232 stressed beams, this increase clearly
cannot be neglected.
= 2180 psi
2. The service load stress of only
R Re(dp cl 16,100 psi (111 N/mm2) in the bar
n r *)
fp3 L Act + jet l reinforcement indicates that require-
ments of strength, not service load
=7.48[-131330+ stress, probably controlled the choice
of bar area.
133, 000x 10.77x 17.38]
9232 3. Although the allowable concrete
stress was not given, the stress of 2180
= 12,700 psi psi (15 N/mm2) appears reasonable for
concrete having a compressive strength
of about 5 ksi (35 N/mm2).
n R -f- Re'(d$ ci*) J
Aot jot
4. The strain and stress information
= 8.03 r 133,000 developed provides a rational basis for
133 + judging the serviceability of the beam.
For example, an estimate of crack
133,000x10.77x19.38]
width could be made based on the
9232 stress in the bar reinforcement, using
= 16,100 psi standard methods, or could be based
on the increase in stress in the tendon
The final stress in the tendon at full as the . member passes from the de-
service load is found by summing the compression stage to the full service
three parts: load stage.
Nominal concrete tensile stresses may realistic appraisal of service load con-
be calculated in partially prestressed ditions. Specific reference is made to
beams based on the properties of the consideration of cracking, deflection,
uncracked cross section. According to and fatigue, as well as satisfaction of
present American practice, dimension- specified limits on stresses.
ing of the section may proceed on the A method is given for the calculation
basis of such nominal stresses even of stresses in the concrete, prestressing
though they may exceed the modulus of steel, and bar reinforcement in partially
rupture. prestressed beams after cracking, per-
Circumstances may exist, however, in mitting a more satisfactory assessment
which it is necessary to obtain a more of serviceability.
Notation
80
References