Topic 2

Material
Concrete & Prestressing Steel
 Concrete

Short term
e.g Mechanical Long term
compression,
tyension,shear properties e.g. creep &
, stiffness shrinkage
Concrete
Compressive and tensile Strengths
 The usual range of concrete strength used in prestressed
concrete is 25-50N/mm2 (based cylinder strength at 28
days)
 In prestress concrete it is important to know both
compressive strength and tensile strength
 A major factor affecting the strength is compaction.
Important the concrete is compacted as fully as possible.
 Poor compaction will effect the bond between the concrete
and any steel placed within it. This is particularly important
for pretensioned members, where reliance is made on this
bond to transfer the prestress force to the concrete
Concrete
Compressive and tensile Strengths
 Tensile strength can be defined under two categories :
flexural tensile strength, fcr (modulus of rapture) & direct
tensile strength, fctm
 flexural tensile strength is the maximum tensile stress that
the material can withstand when it is subjected to flexure
(bending). Obtained by perform two point loading test on
prism specimens
 Direct tensile strength or splitting tensile strength is the
maximum tensile stress that the material can withstand under
direct tension by split tension test on cylinder
 Allowable concrete tensile stresses (N/mm2)
Concrete Grade
C20/25 C25/30 C30/37 C35/45 C40/50 C45/55 C50/60
fctm 2.2 2.6 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.8 4.1
Concrete
Modulus of Elasticity
 The modulus of elasticity is important in estimating the
deflections of prestressed and losses of prestress force.
 Modulus of elasticity or secant modulus is the gradient of line
that connecting the origin to a given stress (point 0.4fc) of
stress-strain curve . fc is max stress achieved.
 Used for determining the short term deflections of
prestressed concrete members and the initial losses of
prestress force due to elastic shortening
 For long term deflections, the time dependent effects of
creep and shrinkage should be taken into account
Creep
 Creep is the increase in strain with time due to a sustained load.
 The initial deformation due to load is the elastic strain, while the
additional strain due to the same sustained load is creep strain
 Creep can’t be observed directly and determined by deducting
elastic strain and shrinkage strain from the total strain
 Creep affects both the long term deflection and loss of prestress
force in prestressed concrete members
 The basic mechanism of creep in concrete is that of gradual loss of
moisture causing contraction in the structure of the cement paste
in the concrete
strain
shrinkage
 Shrinkage is shortening of the member due to drying and removal
of moisture. Excess of water (free water) in concrete evaporates
and the cement matrix around the aggregates contracts.
 The loss of water through evaporation leads to gradual shortening
of the member with time, described as shrinkage.As the member
shortens, the prestressing steel loses of its prestress.
 The amount of shrinkage is dependent on the environmental
conditions surrounding the concrete (humidity, temperature
changes) and is independent of the external load on the member.
 Shrinkage of concrete varies with time.
Prestressing Steel
 The prestressing steel in a prestressed concrete element is
known as tendon
 Different types of steel used for prestressing; wire, strand
and bars
 Wires – is a single unit made of steel, diameter from 3 to
7mm in the form of plain or indented.
 Strands – comprise of 2,3 or 7 wires wounded together
with overall diameter ranging from 8 to 18mm.
 Bars – produced by hot rolled alloy steel with diameter
from 20 to 40mm. Can be plain or threaded
 Cables – a group of tendons form a prestressing cable
Plain wires Indented wires

strands

Plain bar threaded bar

 Requirement of Steel for Prestressing
 Steel should high strength (yield and ultimate strength).
Ultimate stress > 1400 N/mm2
 Good ductility
 Good bendality
 The dimensional tolerance should be as small as possible.
 High bond properties
 Corrosion resistant
 Low relaxation properties
Typical tendon profiles in prestressed beam

 Straight tendon profile

 Parabolic tendon profile
 Deflected tendon profile
 Position of tendons in cross section : axially or eccentrically
ASSIGNMENT 1 – Idea and History of
Prestress
 Briefly explain the concept of prestressing
 Write about historical development of prestress
 Describe major structures using concept of prestress