AR 64 BT5 /ALTERNATIVE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM

CHAPTER 2

PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
ARCHT. MARCELINO ENALAS DUMPA, ASST PROF
 PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
• What is Pre-stressed Concrete?
• We all know that concrete is strong in compression and weak
in tension. This is reason for providing reinforcement (in the
form of steel bars) to resist tension/tensile force acting on
beams/columns/slabs etcetera.
• RC structures under service load undergoes deflection causing
the bottom of the beam (tensile zone) to elongate, causing
cracks. Generally, steel bars are provided to limit the crack
widths and resist the tensile force which the concrete lacks.
• Here, the rebar acts as ‘passive reinforcement’. Rebars (steel
reinforcement) provided at the bottom of the bar, does not
carry any forces until the concrete has already deflected
enough to crack.
 PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
• How it is used?
• The principle behind prestressed concrete is that compressive
stresses induced by high-strength steel tendons in a concrete
member before loads are applied will balance the tensile
stresses imposed in the member during service.
• Simply, Permanent pre-compression is produced in the areas
subjected to tension using high tensile strength steel wires or
alloys. Now, a portion of tensile stress is counteracted,
thereby reducing the cross-sectional area of steel
reinforcement.
• As as result, the concrete does not crack because the pre-
stressing has reduced the tensile stress in the section below
cracking stress. hence concrete is treated as a elastic material.
BEAM DIAGRAM
 Compressive Force
• Two Types of Compressive Forces:
1. Internal Prestressing force
2. External forces (Dead load, Live load etc.)
• These two forces must counteract each other.
• When loads are applied, reinforcing steel takes on
more stress and the compressive force in the
concrete is reduced greatly, so that it doesn’t
become a tensile force.
• As a result the concrete is less prone to cracks or
failures because it is always under compression.
 Definition:
Prestressed concrete
• A concrete that has had internal stresses
introduced to counteract, to the degree desired,
the tensile stresses that will be imposed in
service.
• The stress is usually imposed by tendons of
individual hard-drawn wires, cables of hard-
drawn wires, or bars of high strength alloy steel.
Prestressing may be achieved either by
pretensioning or by post-tensioning.
TYPES OF PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
Prestressed concrete structures can be
classified in a number of ways depending
upon the feature of designs and constructions.

2 Types of Prestressed Concrete

1. Pre-tensioning:
2. Post-tensioning
 Pre-tensioning
• The steel wires or tendons are tensioned first
and the concrete is poured later.
• Tendons are temporarily anchored and
tensioned and the prestress is transferred to
the concrete after it is hardened.
• Then the tendon tries to shrink back to the
original length, but resisted by the bond
between the concrete thereby inducing
compressive force in it.
 DIAGRAM

PRE-TENSION CONCRETE
DIAGRAM
 Post-tensioning
• Concrete is poured first, allowed to harden
and the tendons is tensioned later.
• Tendons are placed in sheathing at suitable
places in the member before casting and later
after hardening of concrete.
• Post-tensioning tendons, which are
prestressing steel cables inside plastic ducts or
sleeves, are positioned in the forms before the
concrete is placed.
 Post-Tensioning Construction Basics
• Construction of post-tensioned slabs on grade is very
similar to using reinforcing steel, except for the
tensioning step.
• Cables are arranged as indicated by the engineer and
chaired to run through the center of the slab.
• For residential construction, tendons at 48 inches on
center are common.
• Commercial foundations will have much more steel.
Tendons can be easily routed around obstructions.
DIAGRAM
• Tendons today are seven high-strength steel
wires wound together and placed inside a plastic
duct.
• At each end a PT anchor is located and these are
located in pockets embedded into the slab edge.
When the strands are stressed, the wires will
stretch—about 4 inches for a 50 foot strand—to
apply 33,000 pounds of load.
• Stressing should only be done by qualified
workers.
• After stressing, the tendon is cut off and the
pocket in which the anchors are located is filled
with grout to protect them from corrosion.
• Larger structural concrete members may also be post-
tensioned, especially in bridges and floors and beams
in parking structures.
• One interesting difference is that the tendons will often
be "draped" so that they are low at the midpoint of a
beam and high at the supports—this places the steel at
the point of highest tension where it can keep the
concrete held together tightly.
• With structural members the duct is often grouted full
following stressing to bond the strand to the concrete
along its entire length—these are called bonded
tendons.
• Unbonded tendons, used in residential slabs, remain
free to move within the duct and are protected from
corrosion by grease.
ILLUSTRATION

Tendon (cable) tails after tensioning. The cables

are pulled to 33,000 pounds, resulting in 8
inches of elongation in a 100-foot cable.
ILLUSTRATION
ILLUSTRATION
ILLUSTRATION