CE-804

PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
STRUCTURES
DR. JUNAID AHMAD
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
NUST INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING (NICE)
THE SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (SCEE)
Concrete
• Concrete, particularly high-strength concrete, is a major constituent
of all prestressed concrete elements. Hence, its strength and long-
term endurance have to be achieved through proper quality control
and quality assurance at the production stage.
• Strength and endurance are two major qualities that are particularly
important in pre stressed concrete structures . Long-term detrimental
effects can rapidly reduce the prestressing forces and could result in
unexpected failure. Hence, measures have to be taken to ensure strict
quality control and quality assurance at the various stages of
production and construction as well as maintenance.
Properties of concrete
• The mechanical properties of hardened concrete can be classified into
two categories: Short-term or instantaneous properties, and long-
term properties
• The short-term properties are strength in compression, tension, and shear;
and stiffness, as measured by the modulus of elasticity.
• The long-term properties can be classified in terms of creep and shrinkage.
Compressive Strength
• Depending on the type of mix, the properties of aggregate, and the
time and quality of the curing, compressive strengths of concrete can
be obtained up to 20,000 psi or more.
• The compressive strength fc’ is based on standard 6 in. by 12 in.
cylinders cured under standard laboratory conditions and tested at a
specified rate of loading at 28 days of age. The standard specifications
used in the United States are usually taken from ASTM C-39. The
strength of concrete in the actual structure may not be the same as
that of the cylinder because of the difference in compaction and
curing conditions.
Compressive Strength….
• Commercial production of concrete with ordinary aggregate is usually
in the range 4,000 to 12,000 psi, with the most common concrete
strengths being in the 6,000 psi level.
Tensile Strength
• The tensile strength of concrete is relatively low. A good
approximation for the tensile strength fct is 0.10fc’ < fct < 0.20fc’. lt is
more difficult to measure tensile strength than compressive strength
because of the gripping problems with testing machines. A number of
methods are available for tension testing, the most commonly used
method being the cylinder splitting, or Brazilian test.
Tensile Strength….
• For members subjected to bending, the value of the modulus of
rupture fr, rather than the tensile splitting strength ft’ is used in
design. The modulus of rupture is measured by testing to failure plain
concrete beams 6 in. square in cross section, having a span of 18 in.,
and loaded at their third points (ASTM C-78). The modulus of rupture
has a higher value than the tensile splitting strength. The ACl specifies
a value of 7.5 √fc’ for the modulus of rupture of normal-weight
concrete.
Tensile Strength….
• In most cases, lightweight concrete has a lower tensile strength than
does normal weight concrete. The following are the code stipulations
for light weight concrete:
• If the splitting tensile strength fct, is specified

• lf fc, is not specified, use a factor of 0.75 for all-lightweight concrete

and 0.85 for sand-lightweight concrete. Linear interpolation may be
used for mixtures of natural sand and light weight fine aggregate.
Shear Strength
• Shear strength is more difficult to determine experimentally than the
tests discussed previously because of the difficultly in isolating shear
from other stresses. This is one of the reasons for the large variation
in shear-strength values reported in the literature.
• Control of a structural design by shear strength is significant only in
rare cases, since shear stresses must ordinarily be limited to
continually lower values in order to protect the concrete from failure
in diagonal tension.
STRESS-STRAIN CURVE OF CONCRETE
• Knowledge of the stress-strain relationship of concrete is essential for
developing all the analysis and design terms and procedures in
concrete structures.
• Figure shows a typical stress-strain curve obtained from tests using
cylindrical concrete specimens loaded in uniaxial compression over
several minutes. The first portion of the curve, to about 40 percent of
the ultimate strength fc’, can essentially be considered linear for all
practical purposes.
• After approximately 70 percent of the failure stress, the material loses
a large portion of its stiffness, thereby increasing the curvilinearity of
the diagram. At ultimate load, cracks parallel to the direction of
loading become distinctly visible, and most concrete cylinders (except
those with very low strengths) suddenly fail shortly thereafter.
It can be observed that

(1) the lower the strength of concrete, the higher the failure strain;

(2) the length of the initial relatively linear portion increases with the
increase in the compressive strength of concrete; and

(3) there is an apparent reduction in ductility with increased strength.

MODULUS OF ELASTICITY
• Since the stress-strain curve shown in Figure is curvilinear at a very
early stage of its loading history, Young's modulus of elasticity can be
applied only to the tangent of the curve at the origin. The initial slope
of the tangent to the curve is defined as the initial tangent modulus,
and it is also possible to construct a tangent modulus at any point of
the curve. The slope of the straight line that connects the origin to a
given stress (about 0.4 fc’) determines the secant modulus of
elasticity of concrete. This value, termed in design calculation the
modulus of elasticity, satisfies the practical assumption that strains
occurring during loading can be considered basically elastic
(completely recoverable on unloading), and that any subsequent
strain due to the load is regarded as creep.
• The ACI building code gives the following expressions for calculating
the secant modulus of elasticity of concrete, Ec

• where wc is the density of concrete in pounds per cubic foot (1lb/ft3

=16.02 kg/m3) and fc’ is the compressive cylinder strength in psi. For
normal-weight concrete,
High-Strength Concrete
• High-strength concrete is termed as such by the ACI 318 Code when
the cylinder compressive strength exceeds 6,000 psi (41.4 MPa). For
concrete having compressive strengths 6,000 to 12,000 psi (42-84
MPa), the expressions for the modulus of concrete

• or
• Today, concrete strength up to 20,000 psi (138 MPa) is easily achieved
using a maximum stone aggregate size of 3/8 in. (9.5 mm) and
pozzolanic cementitious partial replacements for the cement such as
silica fume. Such strengths can be obtained in the field under strict
quality control and quality assurance conditions. For strengths in the
range of 20,000 to 30,000 (138-206 MPa), other constituents such as
steel or carbon fibers have to be added to the mixture. In all these
cases, mixture design has to be made by several field trial batches
(five or more), modifying the mixture components for the workability
needed in concrete placement.
lnitial Compressive Strength and Modulus
• Since prestressing is performed in most cases prior to concrete's
achieving its 28 days strength, it is important to determine the
concrete compressive strength fci’ at the prestressing stage as well as
the concrete modulus Ec at the various stages in the loading history of
the element. The general expression for the compressive strength as
a function of time is
• The creep ratio has upper and lower limits as follows for prestressed quality concrete:

• Where H=humidity in percentage

• lt has to be pointed out that these expressions are valid only in
general terms, since the value of the modulus of elasticity is affected
by factors other than loads, such as moisture in the concrete
specimen, the water/cement ratio, the age of the concrete, and
temperature.
• Therefore, for special structures such as arches, tunnels, and tanks,
the modulus of elasticity needs to be determined from test results.
Creep
• Creep, or lateral material flow, is the increase in strain with time due
to a sustained load.
• The initial deformation due to load is the elastic strain, while the
additional strain due to the same sustained load is the creep strain.
• Figure illustrates the increase in creep strain with time, and as in the
case of shrinkage, it can be seen that creep rate decreases with time.
Creep cannot be observed directly and can be determined only by
deducting elastic strain and shrinkage strain from the total
deformation.
• Although shrinkage and creep are not independent phenomena, it
can be assumed that superposition of strains is valid; hence,
• These relative values illustrate that stress-strain relationships for
short-term loading lose their significance and long-term loadings
become dominant in their effect on the behavior of a structure.
• Creep is closely related to shrinkage, and as a general rule, a concrete
that resists shrinkage also presents a low creep tendency, as both
phenomena are related to the hydrated cement paste. Hence, creep
is influenced by the composition of the concrete, the environmental
conditions, and the size of the specimen, but principally creep
depends on loading as a function of time.
• The composition of a concrete specimen can be essentially defined by
the water/cement ratio and water/cementitious ratio when
admixtures are used, aggregate and cement types, and aggregate and
cement contents. Therefore, like shrinkage, an increase in the
water/cement ratio and in the cement content increases creep. Also,
as in shrinkage, the aggregate induces a restraining effect such that an
increase in aggregate content reduces creep.
Effects of creep
• As in shrinkage, creep increases the deflection of beams and slabs
and causes loss of prestress. In addition, the initial eccentricity of a
reinforced concrete column increases with time due to creep,
resulting in the transfer of the compressive load from the concrete to
the steel in the section.
• Once the steel yields, additional load has to be carried by the
concrete. Consequently, the resisting capacity of the column is
reduced and the curvature of the column increases further, resulting
in overstress in the concrete, leading to failure.
Creep Coefficient
• Creep coefficients Cc are commonly used to calculate the creep
effects. Creep coefficient is the ratio of the total deformation εcu at
the end of the specified time period divided by the initial elastic
deformation εci when subjected to sustained load or

• Branson suggests that the creep coefficient Cct at any time t can be
related to the long-term creep by the relationship in Eq.

• t is the time in hours after the load is applied

Typical creep coefficient
Shrinkage
• Shrinkage is the change in volume of the portland cement paste due
to both loss of water and hydration of the portland cement. Drying
shrinkage occurs as water migrates out of the cement paste as curing
progresses. Curing involves a chemical reaction between the cement
and the water. The final volume of hydrated cement paste is less than
the volume of the two initial constituents; water and cement.
Consequently, shrinkage occurs over the life of the structure, with
most of the shrinkage occurring in the first year.
Shrinkage
• Basically, there are two types of shrinkage: plastic shrinkage and
drying shrinkage.
• Plastic shrinkage occurs during the first few hours after placing fresh
concrete in the forms. Exposed surfaces such as floor slabs are more
easily affected by exposure to dry air because of their large contact
surface. In such cases, moisture evaporates faster from the concrete
surface than it is replaced by the bleed water from the lower layers of
the concrete elements.
• Drying shrinkage, on the other hand, occurs after the concrete has
already attained its final set and a good portion of the chemical
hydration process in the cement gel has been accomplished.
• Drying shrinkage is the decrease in the volume of a concrete element
when it loses moisture by evaporation. The opposite phenomenon,
that is, volume increase through water absorption, is termed swelling.
In other words, shrinkage and swelling represent water movement
out of or into the gel structure of a concrete specimen due to the
difference in humidity or saturation levels between the specimen and
the surroundings irrespective of the external load.
• Shrinkage is not a completely reversible process. If a concrete unit is
saturated with water after having fully shrunk, it will not expand to its
original volume.
• Figure relates the increase in shrinkage strain Esh with time. The rate
decreases with time since older concretes are more resistant to stress
and consequently undergo less shrinkage, such that the shrinkage
strain becomes almost asymptotic with time.
Non-Prestressing reinforcement
• Steel reinforcement for concrete consists of bars, wires, and welded
wire fabric, all of which are manufactured in accordance with ASTM
standards.
• To increase the bond between concrete and steel, projections called
deformations are rolled onto the bar surface as shown in Figure, in
accordance with ASTM specifications
• Figure shows typical stress-strain curves for grades 40, 60, and 75 steels.
These have corresponding yield strengths of 40,000, 60,000, and 75,000 psi
(276, 345, and 517 N/mm2, respectively) and generally have well-defined
yield points.
• The ultimate tensile strengths corresponding to the 40, 60, and 80 grade
steels are 70,000, 90,000,and 100,000 psi (483, 621, and 690 N/mm2),
respectively.
• The percent elongation at fracture, which varies with the grade, bar
diameter, and manufacturing source, ranges from 4.5 to 12 percent over an
8-in. (203.2-mm) guage length.
• For most mild steels, the behavior is assumed to be elastoplastic and
Young's modulus is taken as 29 x 106 psi (200 x 106 MPa).
• Because of the high creep and shrinkage losses in concrete, effective
prestressing can be achieved by using very high-strength steels in the
range of 270,000 psi or more. Such high-stressed steels are able to
counterbalance these losses in the surrounding concrete and have
adequate leftover stress levels to sustain the required prestressing
force.
• The magnitude of normal prestress losses can be expected to be in
the range of 35,000 to 60,000 psi. The initial prestress would thus
have to be very high, on the order of 180,000 to 220,000 psi.
• From the aforementioned magnitude of prestress losses, it can be
inferred that normal steels with yield strengths fy = 60,000 psi (414
MPa) would have little prestressing stress left after losses, obviating
the need for using very high-strength steels for prestressing concrete
members.
Prestressing reinforcement
• Prestressing steel is produced in three different forms: strands, bars,
and wires. Strand is the most common form of prestressing
reinforcement and typically comes in seven-wire helically wound
configurations. The number of wires in the cross section can be
increased or decreased as needed for specialty applications such as
21 wire and larger strands that are available for bridge cable stays.
High-strength alloy bars are particularly useful for either temporary or
permanent post-tensioning in segmental construction because the
coupling devices allow segments to be segmentally stressed. High-
strength alloy bars are available in smooth or deformed
configurations. High-strength wires are used for specialty applications
such as tanks and railroad ties.
• Figure provides the stress–strain relationship for several typical
prestressing materials and compares the high-strength materials with
deformed ASTM A615 Grade 60 reinforcement. The modulus of
elasticity of prestressing reinforcement is not the same for all
configurations. Grade 60 reinforcement wires and high-strength alloy
bars have a modulus of elasticity of 29,000,000 psi as do other steel
elements. Strand has a modulus of elasticity of approximately
28,500,000 psi.
Stress-relieved vs Low relaxation strand
• The process of manufacturing seven-wire strand is shown in Fig. As
can be seen, two different types of strand are produced
• Stress-relieved strand
• Low relaxation strand
Stress-relieved vs Low relaxation strand
• The cold drawing and stranding operations result in significant
residual stresses in the strand. These residual stress cause the stress-
strain response of the strand to be very rounded. Stress relieving
removes residual stresses and results in a strand with a much higher
proportional limit. Strain tempering is even more effective in
improving the stress-strain characteristics and has the additional
advantage of substantially reducing the time-dependent losses due to
relaxation of the strand.