University of Western Australia

School of Civil and Resource Engineering 2004

The University of Western Australia
School of Civil and Resource Engineering
CIVL 4111 Design of Structural Systems
Prestressed
Concrete
Developed by
Mr Ken Baker
Presented by
Guowei Ma
1. Introduction
2. Beam in bending at working load
3. Load balancing and deflections
4. Post-cracking performance of beams
5. Ultimate bending strength of beams
6. Ultimate shear strength of beams
7. Estimation of prestress losses
8. Prestressing anchorages
9. Multi-Span Prestressed Beams and Slabs
10. Deflection and Cracking
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE :
CIVL 4111 Design of Structural Systems
Basic Principles and Practices
Some options for prestressing a beam
Discussion of the options
Materials
Nomenclature
1. Prestressed Concrete:
Introduction
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES
Why Prestress? Answer: Because concrete is weak in tension
100x100 prism of
concrete, tensile
strength 2.5 MPa
F
F
Fractures when F = 2.5x10000/1000 = 25 kN
Same prism, pre-
compressed to 10
MPa
F F
Fractures when F = (10 + 2.5)*10000/1000 = 125 kN
Conclusion: Prestressing increases apparent tensile strength,
5 - fold in this case!
Basic Principles and Practices
How to prestress? 3 examples:
Stress after concrete has hardened
External
Post-tensioned
Stress after concrete has hardened
Internal
Post-tensioned
Apply stress before concrete is placed, and
release stress after concrete has hardened
Internal Pre-tensioned
How much prestress? 2 cases:
1. We may require that the prism does not fracture under maximum
working load F
max
for example: aesthetics, durability, vibration.
Then F
max
< F
cr Fully Prestressed
OR
2. We may be prepared to allow prism to crack under maximum working
load, provided that under sustained load F
sust
the cracks are held tightly closed
by the prestress force.
Then F
sust
< F
cr
and F
max
> F
cr
Partially Prestressed
In both cases, safety must be assured:
f F
uo
>= F*
Eh? Surely
its broken !
So what about a beam ? . . . .
Basic Principles and Practices
A beam incurs a bending moment under load, and this causes
compression in the top and tension (!) in the bottom thus:
If we introduce an axial force,
and a reverse bending moment
thus:
. . . then we can eliminate the tension (or substantially reduce it) thus:
That is the
principle of
prestressing
a beam
How does the engineer select a prestress force P ? . . .
First there are 2 basic questions:
1. Does the original prestress force P
o
applied at the end of the member exist
throughout the beam, and persist for the life of the structure?
Answer: NO!
Force reduces along the beam due to initial losses P
o
=> P
i
, and
Force further reduces with time due to long term losses P
i
=> P
e
2. I s transfer of stress from tendon to concrete simple to achieve?
Answer: NO!
For post-tensioning, we must avoid spalling and bursting of
concreteat anchor plates.
For pre-tensioning, we must avoid bond failure and splitting of
concretein transmission zones.
Basic Principles and Practices
So how can we introduce
a prestressing force to
take advantage of all this, while
avoiding excessive losses ?
Thats what we must find out.
But first :
Some options for prestressing a beam . . . .
Simple Beam - external , concentric prestress
rigid
abutments
jack
sliding support
achieves uniform compression throughout beam . . .
so not very efficient, and . . .
dependent on rigidity of abutments
What about the same idea with internal prestress ? . . .
Simple Beam - concentric , internal prestressing :
Post-tensioning
Post- means after
concrete has been placed,
and has hardened.
duct
tendon
jack grips and
extends tendon
live end dead end
Construction procedure:
Build beam, incl. duct and tendon
Jack against live anchorage
Lock off
Remove jack, trim tendon
Grout duct
Remove formwork
Eccentric prestress? . . .
Simple Beam- eccentric, internal, straight tendon
Post-tensioning
tendon
eccentricity e
below
centroidal
axis of section
Eccentricity of tendon causes a bending moment action which opposes
bending moment due to applied loading.
Eccentric tendon force causes beam to bend upwards.
If self-weight is overcome, then beam lifts off the formwork -
this is virtually always the case.
Can we achieve the same result with Pre-tensioning?
Yes, we can . . .
Pre- = tensioning of steel
against rigid forwork BEFORE
concrete is placed, and
release after concrete has
hardened.
Simple Beam - eccentric, internal, straight tendon
Pre-tensioning
rigid end forms, to hold
prestress force
Construction procedure:
Build rigid end forms
Install and stress tendon
Place concrete, and allow to harden
De-stress, cut and trim tendon
What about changing the eccentricity along the beam?
Good thinking . . .
Duct and tendon
Live end
Dead end
Eccentricity of tendon varies to match applied bending
moment
Tendon is placed inside the duct, which is carefully
draped within the formwork, and held tightly in position while the
concrete is placed.
For a uniformly distributed applied loading, the shape of the
drape is a parabola, with zero eccentricity at ends, and maximum
eccentricity at mid-span.
Simple Beam - eccentric, internal, draped tendon
Post-tensioning
So what materials do we
use to make prestressed
concrete ?
Answer: Concrete,
Prestressing steel, and
Reinforcing steel . . . .
plus lots of special fitments
Concrete:
At least medium strength - Grade 32, 40, 50, or 65 to
tolerate the high stresses which occur, and
minimise creep under sustained load.
MATERIALS
Prestressing Steel:
Specially manufactured high strength steel,
to tolerate the very high stresses incurred, and
of low relaxation at high sustained stress.
Reinforcing Steel:
Grade 500N, used to
enhance ultimate strength in bending,
to ensure adequate shear resistance, and
to prevent destructive bursting and spalling at anchorages.
Prestressing Steels :
Extracts from AS3600-2001 Table 6.3.1 :
Material type Nom. dia. Area Min. break. Min. tensile
and Standard mm mm
2
load kN strength f
p
MPa
Wire - AS1310 5 19.6 33.3 1700
7 38.5 65.5 1700
7-wire super 9.3 54.7 102 1860
strand - AS1311 12.7 100 184 1840
15.2 143 250 1750
Bars - AS1313 23 415 450 1080
(super only) 29 660 710 1080
etc
All these are commonly used for post-tensioning.
For pre-tensioning, strand is commonly used, but also
wire, which must be crimped or deformed to achieve
bond.
dia.
MATERIALS
Stress-Strain of prestressing steel :
stress s
p
strain e
p
f
p
f
p
= (ultimate)
tensile strength
(Breaking strength)
MPa
>0.050
f
py
f
py
= yield strength
MPa
0.002
Slope = E
p
E
p
= elastic modulus
MPa
idealised
This idealised curve is called elastic/plastic (sometimes bi-linear).
I t is usually used in calculations thus:
Up to e
py
,stress s
p
= E
p
e
p
Above e
py
, , stress s
p
= f
py
Multi-strand tendon :
Tendon = a single wire, strand or rod,
or a bundle of wires, or a bundle of
strands.
Multi-strand tendon comprises a bundle of strands.
Number of strands required is estimated from:
maximum force to be applied P
o
, and
stress level s
p
to be adopted.
EXAMPLE: P
o
= 1000 kN, f 12.7 mm super strand, stress <= 1500
MPa.
A
p
required = 1000 x 10^3 / 1500 = 667 mm
2
Number of f 12.7 mm strands (area = 100 mm
2
)
= 667 / 100 = 6.7 i.e. 7 strands.
Stress in 7-strand tendon, loaded to 1000 kN
= 1000 x 10^3 / (7 x 100)
= 1430 MPa.
NB P
o
must not exceed 0.85 x 700 x 1840
= 1095 kN > 1000 kN o.k.
duct
50f
7/12.7f
strand
tendon
grout
NOMENCLATURE
Some symbols:
A
p
= area of tendon(s) mm
2
f
p
= breaking strength of tendon MPa (N/mm
2
)
f
py
= yield strength of tendon MPa
d
p
= distance from compressive fibre to tendon mm
d
s
= distance from compressive fibre to rebar mm
P = prestress force in tendon kN (P
o
, P
i
, P
e
)
f
cp
= compressive strength of concrete at time of transfer MPa
s
c
= stress in concrete MPa ( +=compression )
s
p
= stress in tendon MPa
e = eccentricity of tendon force from centroidal axis mm
. . . . and our Code is AS3600 - 2001
Prestressed structures may be Pre-tensioned or Post-
tensioned.
Post-tensioned structures may be Internally or Externally
prestressed.
Prestressing is used to increase the apparent tensile
strength of concrete, by causing an internal action opposite to
the action due to applied load.
Prestress losses must be estimated and allowed for in
design.
Medium to high strength concrete, and high strength, low
relaxation steels are used in prestressed structures.
SUMMARY