WHAT IS POSTTENSIONING?

to a slab or beam, the beam will tend to deflect or sag. OVERVIEW This deflection will cause the Post-tensioning is a method of reinforcing bottom of the beam to (strengthening) concrete or other materialselongate slightly. Even a with high-strength steel strands or bars,slight elongation is usually typically referred to as tendons. Post- enough to cause cracking. tensioning applications include office andSteel reinforcing bars apartment buildings, parking structures, slabs- (rebar) are typically on-ground, bridges, sports stadiums, rock andembedded in the concrete soil anchors, and water-tanks. In many cases,as tensile reinforcement to post-tensioning allows construction that wouldlimit the crack widths. Rebar otherwise be impossible due to either siteis what is called passive constraints or architectural requirements. reinforcement however; it Although post-tensioning systems requiredoes not carry any force the concrete has specialized knowledge and expertise tountil fabricate, assemble and install, the concept isalready deflected enough to Post-tensioning easy to explain. Imagine a series of wooden crack. blocks with holes drilled through them, intotendons, on the other hand, considered active which a rubber band is threaded. If one holdsare reinforcing. Because it is the ends of the rubber band, the blocks will sag. Post-tensioning can be demonstrated byprestressed, the steel is placing wing nuts on either end of the rubber effective as reinforcement band and winding the rubber band so that theeven though the concrete blocks are pushed tightly together. If onemay not be cracked. Postholds the wing nuts after winding, the blocks tensioned structures can be will remain straight. The tightened rubberdesigned to have minimal and cracking, band is comparable to a post-tensioningdeflection tendon that has been stretched by hydrauliceven under full load. jacks and is held in place by wedge-type anchoring devices.

BENEFITS To fully appreciate the benefits of posttensioning, it is helpful to know a little bit about concrete. Concrete is very strong in compression but weak in tension, i.e. it will crack when forces act to pull it apart. In conventional concrete construction, if a load such as the cars in a parking garage is applied

very demanding geometry requirements, including ADVANTAGES/APPLICATIONS complex curves, variable There are post-tensioning applications insuperelevation and almost all facets of construction. In building significant grade changes. construction, post-tensioning allows longerPost-tensioning also allows clear spans, thinner slabs, fewer beams andextremely long span bridges more slender, dramatic elements. Thinnerto be constructed without slabs mean less concrete is required. Inthe use of temporary addition, it means a lower overall buildingintermediate supports. This height for the same floor-to-floor height. Post-minimizes the impact on the tensioning can thus allow a significant environment and avoids reduction in building weight versus adisruption to water or road conventional concrete building with the sametraffic below. In stadiums, number of floors. This reduces the foundation post-tensioning allows long load and can be a major advantage in seismic clear spans and very areas. A lower building height can alsocreative architecture. Posttranslate to considerable savings intensioned rock and soil mechanical systems and faade costs.anchors are used in Another advantage of post-tensioning is thattunneling and slope beams and slabs can be continuous, i.e. astabilization and as tiesingle beam can run continuously from onebacks for excavations. Postend of the building to the other. Structurally,tensioning can also be used this is much more efficient than having ato produce virtually crackbeam that just goes from one column to thefree concrete for waternext. tanks. Post-tensioning is the system of choice for TERMINOLO parking structures since it allows a high GY degree of flexibility in the column lay-out, span lengths and ramp configurations. Post- A post-tensioning "tendon" tensioned parking garages can be either is defined as a complete stand-alone structures or one or more floors in assembly consisting of the the an office or residential building. In areas anchorages, where there are expansive clays or soils with prestressing strand or bar, low bearing capacity, post-tensioned slabs-on- the sheathing or duct and ground and mat founda-tions reduce problems any grout or corrosionwith cracking and differential settle-ment. inhibiting coating (grease) Post-tensioning allows bridges to be built to surrounding the

December 2000

prestressing steel. There are two main types of provides protection against damage by mechanical handling and serves as a barrier that prevents post-tensioning: unbonded and bonded moisture and chemicals from reaching the strand. (grouted). An unbonded tendon is one in which the The strand coating material reduces friction prestressing steel is not actually bonded to the between the strand and the sheathing and provides concrete that surrounds it except at the additional corrosion protection. anchorages. The most common unbonded Anchorages are another critical element, systems are monostrand (single strand) particularly in unbonded systems. After the tendons, which are used in slabs and beams for concrete has cured and obtained the necessary buildings, parking structures and slabs-on- strength, the wedges are inserted inside the ground. A monostrand tendon consists of a anchor casting and the strand is stressed. seven-wire strand that is coated with a When the jack releases the strand, the strand corrosion-inhibiting grease and encased in an retracts slightly and pulls the wedges into the extruded plastic protective sheathing. The anchor. This creates a tight anchorage consists of an iron casting and a lock on the strand. The wedges thus maintain conical, two-piece wedge which grips the the applied force in the tendon and transfer it strand. to the surrounding concrete. In corrosive In bonded systems, two or more strands are environments, the anchorages and exposed inserted into a metal or plastic duct that is strand tails are usually covered with a housing embedded in the concrete. The strands are and cap for added protection. stressed with a large, multi-strand jack and CONSTRUCTION anchored in a common anchorage device. The duct is then filled with a cementitious grout In building and slab-on-ground construction, that provides corrosion protection to the strand unbonded tendons are typically prefabricated and bonds the tendon to the concrete at a plant and delivered to the construction surrounding the duct. Bonded systems are site, ready to install. The tendons are laid out in more commonly used in bridges, both in the the forms in accordance with installation superstructure (the roadway) and in cable- drawings that indicate how they are to be stayed bridges, the cable-stays. In buildings, spaced, what their profile (height above the they are typically only used in heavily loaded form) should be, and where they are to be beams such as transfer girders and landscaped stressed. After the concrete is placed and has plaza decks where the large number of strands reached its required strength, usually between 3000 and 3500 psi (pounds per square inch), required makes them more economical. the tendons are stressed and anchored. The Rock and soil anchors are also bonded systems tendons, like rubber bands, want to return to but the construction sequence is somewhat their original length but are prevented from different. Typically, a cased hole is drilled into doing so by the anchorages. The fact the the side of the excavation, the hillside or the tendons are kept in a permanently stressed tunnel wall. A tendon is inserted into the casing (elongated) state causes a compressive force and then the casing is grouted. Once the grout to act on the concrete. The compression that has reached sufficient strength, the tendon is results from the post-tensioning counteracts stressed. In slope and tunnel wall stabilization, the tensile forces created by subsequent the anchors hold loose soil and rock together; in applied loading (cars, people, the weight of the excavations they hold the wood lagging and beam itself when the shoring is removed). This steel piles in place. significantly increases the load-carrying CRITICAL ELEMENTS capacity of the concrete.
There are several critical elements in a postSince post-tensioned concrete is cast in place tensioning system. In unbonded construction, the at the job site, there is almost no limit to the plastic sheathing acts as a bond breaker between shapes that can be formed. Curved facades, the concrete and the prestressing strands. It also

arches and complicated slab edge layouts are

often a trademark of post-tensioned concretecan ensure the level of quality that the owner will structures. Post-tensioning has been used toexpect. PTI also publish-es technical documents and advantage in a number of very aestheticallyreference manuals covering various aspects of posttensioned design and construction. designed bridges. To find out more about post-tensioning, contact the Post-Tensioning Institute or The amount of post-tensioning strand sold has visit our Web site at: www.postalmost doubled in the last ten years and the posttensioning.org.

ENSURING QUALITY CONSTRUCTION

tensioning industry is continuing to grow rapidly. To ensure quality construction, the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) has implemented both a Plant Certification Program and a Field Personnel Certification Training Course. By specifying that the plant and the installers be PTI certified, engineers
WHAT IS POST-TENSIONING?
2000

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