University of Western Australia

School of Civil and Resource Engineering 2004

7. Prestressed Concrete :
Estimation of prestress
losses
Introduction
Post-tensioning - immediate losses

Post-tensioning - time dependent losses

Pre-tensioning - immediate losses

Pre-tensioning - time dependent losses

Its not all lost -
just some of it, but enough to concern us!
INTRODUCTION
Jacking and locking-off cause stresses and strains in tendons and
concrete, and these cause the tendon force to diminish; hence the term
loss of prestress.
Some of the losses occur during jacking, and/or immediately upon
transfer; these losses are called immediate losses.
Other losses occur progressively with time, as the tendon and concrete
age and undergo inelastic deformations; these losses are termed time-
dependent losses, or deferred losses.
Individual losses are small, but when added together amount to a
significant decline in the original jacking force: typically 15% to 25%;
hence must be considered by the designer and constructor.
Important initial decisions by designers of prestressed concrete are:
adopt at least medium strength concrete, to minimise creep, and
adopt very high strength tendons, of low relaxation, to minimise
percentage loss of prestress force.
POST-TENSIONING - IMMEDIATE LOSSES
Immediate losses are comprised of a number of separate, but
sometimes related, causes. These are due to (Note that they
do not always apply):
Elastic deformation of concrete.
(Friction in jack and anchorage - usually minor.)
Friction between tendon and duct wall.
Draw-in losses.
(Other, specific to type of construction - consider.)
Lets consider the major losses . .
Loss due to elastic deformation of concrete :
BEFORE STRESSING:
AFTER STRESSING:
Extension of
tendon
= ( s
pi
/ E
p
).L
Shortening of concrete
= ( s
ci
/ E
cj
).L
s
pi
is initial stress
in tendon, and
s
ci
is induced
compressive stress
in concrete.
Note that
P
i
= s
ci
A
c
= s
pi
A
p
E
cj
is elastic
modulus of
concrete at time of
stressing
There is an important point to note about this . . .
Post-tensioning
Immediate loss:
We must be sure that the required prestress force is applied. This
is so important that two separate methods of measuring the force must be
adopted and checked against one another. The methods are
Observe P
o
from the gaugeon the jack (which must be recently
calibrated to + 3%), and then
Measure the extension of the tendon, ensuring that a correction is applied
for the contraction of the concrete, and from this calculate the prestress
force P
o
.
The forces P
o
must agree within 10%. Otherwise, we must search for a
possible problem, and fix it!
If this is done properly for a single tendon, then there is no loss of
prestress to be accounted for. . . .
. . . But not so for multiple tendons, e.g. slab stressing - it
may be necessary to re-stress, ensuring that all strands are
stressed to the correct force.
Consider this example . . .
Consider a beam with two tendons, 1 and 2.
Suppose we stress tendon 1 first. The concrete shortens, but we continue
stressing until tendon 1 is at required force.
Now stress tendon 2. The concrete shortens further, so tendon 1 also shortens . .
. . . and loses some of its force! WHOOPS ! !
tendon 1
tendon 2
e
1
e
2
Elastic loss in tendon 1 due to prestress P
2
applied to
tendon 2
DP
21
= P
2
[1/A + e
1
e
2
/ I] E
p
/ E
cj
A
p1
Two options:
Sequential stressing (chasing the tail), or
Overstress tendon 1 by DP
21
, if possible and safe.
When a draped tendon is stressed, it bears hard against the duct wall.
As stressing proceeds, the tendon stretches and slides along the duct wall:
LIVE
END
DEAD
END
L
pa
Friction resists this sliding, so the jacking force diminishes towards the dead end.
The diminished force at any position is given by P = P
0
e
-mq
where
m is the coefficient of limiting friction between tendon and duct.
q is the sum of:
the total angle of the tendon change a
tot
between the subject position
and that at the jack, and
a wobble angle b
p
.L
pa
, allowing for constructional imperfections.
So P = P
0
e
- m ( a
tot
+ b
p
L
pa
)
Loss due to friction between tendon and duct wall :
Post-tensioning
Immediate loss:
What is a
tot
?
a
tot
is the total change of angle
between a point at which we
know the force (e.g. at jacking
end) and the point in which we
are interested.
This example shows a
tot
from the
left hand (live) end, to mid-span in a
simply supported beam.
This is a
tot
.
a
tot
a
tot
is clearly q
0
- q
L/2
q
0
= e
0
q
L/2
= 0
a
tot
= e
0
- 0 = e
0
Post-tensioning
Immediate loss:
So how do we select m
and b
p
? . . .
(Approximate only - consult AS3600 and trade literature
for each case.)
m = 0.20 for galvanised spun duct, and
0.14 for polyethelene duct.
b
p
= 0.015 to 0.025 rads/m
Post-tensioning
Immediate loss:
Selection of the coefficients and p:
After stressing,
before transfer:
Bearing plate
Duct
Strands
Loss due to draw-in of tendon: Diagrammatic only
Anchor head
Permanent
wedges,
tightly
driven
After transfer:
Draw-in
length dx
So there is some loss of force in the tendon . . .
. . but the shortening of the tendon is impeded
by reverse friction on the duct wall, so . . .
tendon force
distance from
live end
Distance x over which draw-in dx
modifies the tendon force.
Modified tendon
force
For a given dx, x can be calculated
from:
x = { ( E
p
dx) / (s
pj
K) }
0.5
In this formulation, we use the rate
of change of the tendon force just as
for duct friction :
K = m ( a
tot
+ b
p
L
pa
) / L
pa
The loss due to draw-in often does
not affect the force at mid-span,
except for short span members.
Post-tensioning
Immediate loss:
So how can we estimate the effect of these
immediate losses on the tendon force over
the entire beam ?
The easiest method is graphical . . . .
After jacking but prior to transfer:
force in tendon
length along member
0 L
P
0
jacking force prior
to transfer
loss of force over
full length of member
due to duct friction
NOTE: Applies to a parabolically draped tendon in post-
tensioned design. For other draping conditions, force
declines towards dead end, but not uniformly with length.
JACK
END
DEAD
END
Immediately after transfer (Initial prestress) :
Force in tendon
Length along member
0 L
P
0
P
i
(0)
P
i
(L)
Loss (if any) due to
elastic shortening of
concrete
+ loss (if any)
at anchorage.
plus additional loss
(if any) due to draw-
in at anchorage.
NOTE: P
i
diminishes from the live to the dead end.
Usually our interest is in the mid-span, or mid-spans for
continuous beams or slabs, and dead end .
POST-TENSIONING -TIME DEPENDENT LOSSES
With the passing of time, and influenced by environmental
factors, the prestresss force diminishes further. The losses are
additive to those which occur at stressing and transfer. The
separate, but inter-related causes are:
Losses due to shrinkage of concrete.
Losses due to creep of concrete.
Losses due to relaxation of tendon.
We now consider these separately, and their relationship
to one another . . .
Loss due to shrinkage of concrete :
Concrete shrinks with time, dependent on:
chemical process of hydration.
hypothetical thickness of section t
h
.
moisture changes during the entire life of structure.
restraint offered during hydration and later.
shrinkage strain e
cs
time
e
cs
( )
DRY ENVIRONMENT
MOISTER
ENVIRONMENT
shrinkage strain e
cs
time
e
cs
( )
8
Longitudinal rebar (if any) reduces the shrinkage, and so e
cs
is modified :
e
cs
= e
cs
(from above) . 1/ ( 1 + 15 A
s
/ A
g
) . . . . . .
shrinkage strain e
cs
The tendon(s) in a prestressed beam shorten as the beam shrinks,
and so the prestress force declines. It is not the total shrinkage,
but that which occurs after the time of prestressing T
0 ,
which
concerns us :
time
e
cs
( )
e
cs
(T
0
)
T
0
T
e
cs
(T )
Shrinkage which causes loss
of prestress to time T
= e
cs
(T) - e
cs
(T
0
)
= age at
prestressing
Loss of prestress due to shrinkage is given by :
D s
p
(shrinkage) = E
p
. [ e
cs
(T) - e
cs
(T
0
) ]
where e
cs
has been modified to allow for long. rebar, if any.
Loss due to creep of concrete :
Concrete loaded in compression creeps with time, dependent on:
chemical process of hydration.
hypothetical thickness of section t
h
.
moisture changes during entire life of structure.
intensity of prestress, and its age of application T
0
.
How do we account for the intensity of stress ? . . .
sustained stress s
c
total strain e
c
0.5f
c
limit of validity
E
cj
s
c
= stress on concrete
e
c
= strain of concrete
E
cj
= elastic modulus of
concrete at time j after
casting - this is typically
less than E
c
, which is at
28 days.
The elastic strain is easily estimated as s
c
/ E
cj
. But how do we estimate
the creep strain, which is additional to the elastic strain ?
Concrete under sustained stress :
elastic strain
total strain at time T
total strain
at infinite time
limit of validity
0.5f
c
total strain e
c
sustained stress s
c
E
cj
Creep strain at time T is proportional to immediate elastic strain :
e
cc
(T) = f
cc
(T) . s
c
/ E
cj
Creep Factor f
cc
(T) :
f
cc
can be estimated from AS3600 :
Loss of prestress due to creep is then
Ds
p
(creep) = E
p
. e
cc
in which
E
p
= elastic modulus of tendon
e
cc
= f
cc
s
ci
/ E
c
s
ci
= stress on concrete, under prestress and
sustained loading, at the level of the tendon.
Loss due to Tendon Relaxation:
Under sustained tensile strain, any metallic member relaxes, i.e. loses some of
its load due to creep. For prestressing wire, strand and bars, relaxation is
measured in a standard manner, and adjustments are then made for the real
design condition. Diagrammatically, the test is (strand shown):
strand
1. Apply
0.7f
p
2. Measure this, and maintain by adjusting
force, for 1000 hours.
Initial stress = 0.7 f
p
Stress after 1000 hours = 0.7 f
p
- x
Basic relaxation R
b
= x / (0.7f
p
), expressed as % age.
Design relaxation R modifies R
b
thus . . . . .
where
k
4
is duration factor
k
5
is maturity factor
k
6
is temperature factor.
R = k
4
.k
5
.k
6
.R
b
So loss of prestress
Ds
p
(relaxation) =
R/100 s
pi
0
1
2
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
s
pi
/ f
p
maximum
permissible
value of s
pi
/ f
p
10 20 30 40
Annual average
temperature (
o
C)
1
2
k
6
0.6
1.0
1.4
1 10 100 1000 10000
Time (days)
k
4
k
5
So shrinkage and creep of concrete, together with relaxation
of tendon steel, cause long term (deferred) loss of prestress.
Their effects are inter-active. For example, shrinkage and
creep of concrete reduce the prestress force, and thereby the
loss due to tendon relaxation. This can be accounted for by
a modification factor applied to the relaxation loss thus :
% age loss due to relaxation
= R [ 1 - (loss of stress due to shrinkage and creep)/s
pi
) ]
The total losses due to deferred effects are then applied over
the entire length of the beam, and summarised graphically
thus . . . .
After long period of time (Effective prestress):
Force in tendon
0 L
P
0
P
i
(0)
P
i
(L)
P
e
(0) P
e
(L)
Combined losses due
to shrinkage and
creep of concrete,
and relaxation of
tendon.
Length along beam
So the time dependent (deferred) losses have a constant
effect along the length of the beam, AND
we must be concerned with the mid-spans for bending, and
support points, especially dead end, for shear.
L
PRE-TENSIONING - IMMEDIATE LOSSES
Immediate losses are comprised of
Elastic deformation of concrete - always!
Friction in jack and anchorage.
Other - consider.
Elastic deformation of concrete
It is common to express this problem thus:
The jacking force P
o
required to achieve initial force P
i
is:
P
o
= P
i
[ 1 + (1/A + e
2
/I) (E
p
/E
c
) A
p
]
PRE-TENSIONING - TIME-DEPENDENT LOSSES
Simple - the same as for post-tensioning time-dependent losses:
Shrinkage.
Creep.
Tendon relaxation.
But note that pre-tensioning usually
occurs in the very early life of the member.
So f
cp
, f
t
, and E
cj
are small.
To improve these properties at transfer, it
is common to use either or both of:
High early strength cement,
Steam curing.
See the literature for these topics.
Lets try to summarise all this . . .
Cause of loss Pre-tensioning Post-tensioning
IMMEDIATE:
LONG-TERM:
Concrete shrinkage
Concrete creep
Tendon relaxation
Elastic deformation
of concrete
One tendon: No
More than one: Yes
Friction in jack
or anchorage
Friction in duct
Draw-in
Other
Not if properly done
Yes
Consider
Consider
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not if properly done -
care at cradles !
No
No
Consider
Yes
Yes
Yes
Prestress Losses - Summary
SUMMARY
Losses always occur, and must be estimated.
Immediate losses occur during jacking and/or transfer.
Long-term losses occur progressively with time.
Each causal factor causes small loss, but sum of these
losses is significant.
Rational methods for estimating losses exist, e.g. in
Section 6 of AS3600 - 2001, which provides guidance
on relevant parameters.
With careful planning, prestress losses can be accounted
for, and minimised.