PRE-STRESSING & ITS ADVANTAGES. COMPONENTS OF PRESTRESSING.

DEFINITION
Prestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridgeswith a longer span than is not practical with ordinary reinforced concrete. Prestressing tendons (generally of high tensile steel cable or rods) are used to provide a clamping load which produces a compressive stress that balances the tensile stress that the concrete compression member would otherwise experience due to a bending load. Traditional reinforced concrete is based on the use of steel reinforcement bars,rebars, inside poured concrete. The tensile strength of concrete is only about 10% of its compressive strength. As a result, plain concrete members are likely to crack when loaded. In order to resist tensile stresses which plain concrete cannot resist, it can be reinforced with steel reinforcing bars. Reinforcing is selected assuming that the tensile zone of the concrete carries no load and that tensile stresses are resisted only by tensile forces in the reinforcing bars. The resulting reinforced concrete member may crack, but it can effectively carry the design loads

Types of pre-stressing: Pre-stressing of concrete can be classified in several ways. Pre-tensioning: The tension is applied to the tendons before casting of the concrete. The pre compression is transmitted from steel to concrete through bond over the transmission length near the ends.

Post-tensioning The tension is applied to the tendons (located in a duct) after hardening of the concrete. The precompression is transmitted from steel to concrete by the anchorage device (at the end blocks).

Posttensioned box girder of a bridge Typical pre-cast members for Post-tensioning

BENEFITS OF POST - TENSIONING

Longer clear spans Fewer beams Less usage of concrete Monetary Savings in construction Considerable savings in Mechanical systems & facade costs High degree of flexibility in the column layout More slender Creative Architecture

According to source of pre-stressing force: method by which the pre-stressing force is generated.There are four sources of pre-stressing force: y y y Mechanical Hydraulic Electrical

Chemical

Mechanical Pre-stressing In this type of pre-stressing, the devices includes weights with or without lever transmission, geared transmission in conjunction with pulley blocks, screw jacks with or without gear drives and wire-winding machines. This type of pre-stressing is adopted for mass scale production. Hydraulic Pre-stressing This is the simplest type of pre-stressing, producing large pre-stressing forces. The hydraulic jack used for the tensioning of tendons, comprises of calibrated pressure gauges which directly indicate the magnitude of force developed during the tensioning. Electrical Pre-stressing In this type of pre-stressing, the steel wires are electrically heated and anchored before placing concrete in the moulds. This type of pre-stressing is also known as thermoelectric pre-stressing External Pre-stressing When the pre-stressing is achieved by elements located outside the concrete, it is called external prestressing. The tendons can lie outside the member (for example in I-girders or walls) or inside the hollow space of a box girder. This technique is adopted in bridges and strengthening of buildings. In the following figure, the box girder of a bridge is pre-stressed with tendons that lie outside the concrete. Internal Pre-stressing When the pre-stressing is achieved by elements located inside the concrete member (commonly, by embedded tendons), it is called internal pre-stressing. Most of the applications of pre-stressing are internal pre-stressing. In the following figure, concrete will be cast around the ducts for placing the tendons.

Different types of pre-stressing steel

y y y y y Wires : Pre stressing wire is a single unit made of steel. Strands : Two, three or seven wires are wound to form a pre stressing strand. Tendon : A group of strands or wires are wound to form a pre-stressing tendon. Cable : A group of tendons form a pre-stressing cable. Bars: A tendon can be made up of a single steel bar. The diameter of a bar is much larger than that of a wire

Advantages of Pre-stressing
The pre-stressing of concrete has several advantages as compared to traditional Re-inforced concrete (RC) without pre-stressing. A fully pre-stressed concrete member is usually subjected to compression during service life. This rectifies several deficiencies of concrete. The following mentions the advantages of a pre-stressed concrete member with an equivalent RC member. For each effect, the benefits are listed. 1) Section remains uncracked under service loads

- Reduction of steel corrosion Increase in durability. - Full section is utilised Higher moment of inertia (higher stiffness) Less deformations (improved serviceability). - Increase in shear capacity. - Suitable for use in pressure vessels, liquid retaining structures. - Improved performance (resilience) under dynamic and fatigue loading. Less deformations (improved serviceability - Increase in shear capacity. - Suitable for use in pressure vessels, liquid retaining structures. - Improved performance (resilience) under dynamic and fatigue loading. 2) High span-to-depth ratios Larger spans possible with prestressing (bridges, buildings with large column-free spaces) Typical values of span-to-depth ratios in slabs are given below. Non-pre-stressed slab 28:1 Pre-stressed slab 45:1 For the same span, less depth compared to RC member. Reduction in self weight More aesthetic appeal due to slender sections More economical sections. 3) Suitable for precast construction The advantages of precast construction are as follows. Rapid construction Better quality control Reduced maintenance Suitable for repetitive construction Multiple use of formwork

Reduction of formwork Availability of standard shapes.

Types of pre-stressed components

1. Pre-stressed composite steel-concrete beams : have advantages as large stiffness, high strength and good ductility. And the stiffness and strength of slab can be improved much more if letting the composite beams cross each other to buildup tow-way slab. Nonlinear finite element analysis for the pre-stressed composite steel-concrete slabs is presented in this paper. The steel beams are placed under the concrete in one-way or two-way respectively to compare the difference. The influence of pre-stressed cables on the steel beams is discussed, too. The strength can be improved more if the pre-stressed cables are installed. It shows that the two-way composite slab is a new structure with good future.

Pre-stressed Composite Steel-Concrete Two-way Slab

Pre-stressed Concrete Water Storage Tanks

Circular pre-stressed concrete tanks used for water and waste water storage and treatment. The tanks, can be built principally for municipal and industrial users, ranging in capacity from 50,000 gallons to 20,000,000 gallons .

Basic features of Pre-stressed Storage Tanks

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Low cost ,Quality construction, Long life ,Low maintenance