REPORT: PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

METHOD: PRE TENSIONING

SUBMITTED BY : MOHD KHALID RAZA

REINFORCED CONCRETE

Concrete is strong in compression weak in tension. Steel in strong in tension.Reinforced concrete uses concrete to resist compression and to hold bars in position and uses steel to resist tension. Tensile strength of concrete is neglected (i.e. zero ). R.C beams allows crack under service load.

PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

INTRODUCTION
Prestressed concrete is a material that has had internal stresses induced to balance out, to a desired degree, stresses due to externally applied loads. Since tensile stresses are undesirable in concrete structural members, the objective of prestressing is to create compressive stresses (prestress) at the same locations as the tensile stresses within the member so that the tensile stresses will be diminished or will disappear altogether. The elimination of tensile stresses within the concrete will result in members that have fewer cracks or are crack-free at service load levels. This one of the advantages of prestressed concrete over reinforced concrete. Prestressed concrete also have other advantages. Because beam cross sections are primarily in compression, diagonal tension stresses are reduced and the beams are stiffer at service loads. Also, sections can be smaller, resulting in less dead weight. Despite the advantages, the following must be considered. Some items that must be considered when using prestressed concrete: The higher unit cost of stronger materials, The need for expensive accessories, The necessity for close inspection and quality control, and In the case of precasting, a higher initial investment in plant.

DEFINITION
Pre-stressed concrete is a form of reinforced concrete that builds in compressive stresses during construction to oppose those found when in use. In other words it is a combination of steel and concrete that takes advantages of the strengths of each material.

PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
Internal stresses are induced to counteract external stresses. In 1904, Freyssinet attempted to introduce permanent acting forces in conc. to resist elastic forces under loads and was named Pre stressing.

CONCEPT OF PRE-STRESSING
i . The concept of pre stressing was invented years ago when

metal brands were wound around wooden pieces to form barrels. ii . The metal brands were tighten under tensile stress which creates compression between the staves allowing them to resist internal liquid pressure.

PRINCIPLE OF PRE-STRESSING
Pre-stressing is a method in which compression force is applied to the reinforced concrete section. The effect of pre stressing is to reduce the tensile stress in the section to the point till the tensile stress is below the cracking stress. Thus the concrete does not crack. It is then possible to treat concrete as a elastic material. The concrete can be visualized to have two compressive force i . Internal pre-stressing force. ii . External forces (d.l , l.l etc ) These two forces must counteract each other.

STRESS IN CONCRETE WHEN PRE STRESSING IS APPLIED AT THE C.G OF THE SECTION

STRESS IN CONCRETE WHEN PRE STRESSING IS APPLIED ECCENTRICALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE C.G OF THE SECTION .

PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE METHODS

There are two basic methods of applying pre-stress to a concrete member Pre-tensioning most often used in factory situations Post-tensioning site use

PRE-TENSIONING
In Pre-tension, the tendons are tensioned against some abutments before the concrete is place. After the concrete hardened, the tension force is released. The tendon tries to shrink back to the initial length but the concrete resists it through the bond between them, thus, compression force is induced in concrete. Pretension is usually done with precast members

CONCERNS WITH PRE-TENSION

Usually uses a mold which is able to resist the forces within the tendons. Which are more expensive than regular molds. Exception comes when the sides of the mold our anchored allowing mold to be created between the anchors without supporting stress. Concrete sample should be taken for every new mix so that strength obtained may be determined before cutting the tendons releasing the stresses onto the concrete. Since pre-tension may only be set once calculations for the camber must be correct. So, pre-stress takes a large amount of preplanning. Must consider self-weight deflections, pre-stress deflections, dead load deflections, and live load deflections. Since it may only tightened once and cannot be retightened the designer must also account for Creep of concrete, elastic shortening of concrete, shrinkage of concrete, relaxation of steel, slip at the anchorage, and friction losses due to intended and unintended (wobble) curvature in the tendons in calculations for the camber of the member in order to have lasting quality of the structure.

BASIC COMMON CONSTRUCTION PROCESS OF MEMBERS

Mold capable of supporting stresses created by the steel is either delivered to job site or molds are located off site. Required or preplanned pre-stresses are determined and required reinforcement steel is determined and set.

Proper concrete mix is determined and placed into molds. Self-consolidating concrete is massively used for ease of finishing. Concrete is allowed to cure and reach a needed strength great enough to support the tension in the steel without cracking. Then steel is cut and member is removed from mold and is ready to install.

PROCESS, WHICH MAY BE PERFORMED IN A CASTING YARD, IS BASICALLY A FIVE-STEP PROCESS: The tendons are placed in a prescribed pattern on the casting bed between two anchorages. The tendons are then tensioned to a value not to exceed 94% of the specified yield strength, but not greater than the lesser of 80% of the specified tensile strength of the tendons and the maximum value recommended by the manufacturer of the prestressing tendons or anchorages (ACI Code, Section 18.5.1) If the concrete forms are not already in place, they may then be assembled around the tendons. The concrete is then placed in the forms and allowed to cure. Proper quality control must be exercised, and curing may accelerated with use of steam or other methods. The concrete will bond to the tendons.

When the concrete attains a prescribed strength, normally within 24 hours or less, the tendons are cut at their anchorages. Since the tendons are now bonded to the concrete, as they are cut from their anchorages the high prestress force must be transferred to the concrete. As the high tensile force of the tendon creates a compressive force on the concrete section, the concrete will tend to shorten slightly. The stresses that exits once the tendons have been cut are often called the stresses at transfer. Since there is no external load at this stage, the stresses at transfer include only those due to prestressing forces and those due to the weight of the member The prestressed member is then removed from the forms and moved to a storage area so that casting bed can be prepared for further use.

REFERENCES:
PRESENTED PAPER
REINFORCED CONCRETE BY : Dr . Ibrahim. Assakkaf Precast Pre stressed Concrete Works BY: Dr. Sarajul Fikri Mohamed ACI RESEARCH WORK 357.2R-88, American Concrete Institute, 1988; PCI Design Handbook: Precast and Prestressed Concrete, 5th ed., Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute