7. a) Discuss the various types of losses of prestress in pretensioned and posttensioned members.

LOSSESS IN PRESTRESS OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

The force which is used to stretch the wire to the required length must be available all the time as
prestressing force if the steel is to be prevented from contracting. Contraction of steel wire occurs
due to several causes, effecting reduction in the prestress. This reduction in the prestressing force is
called loss in prestress. In a prestressed concrete beam, the loss is due to the following:
a) Elastic shortening
b) Shrinkage of concrete
c) Creep of concrete
d) Frictional loss
e) Relaxation of steel
f) Anchorage take-up

Table: Types of Losses of Prestress

S.N
o.

2
3
4
5
6

TYPES OF
LOSSES

Elastic deformation
of concrete

Relaxation of
stress in steel
Shrinkage of
concrete
Creep of concrete
Friction
Anchorage grip

PRETENSIONING

POST-TENSIONING

Yes

No loss due to elastic

deformation if all the wires are
simultaneously tensioned. If the
wires are successively tensioned,
there will be loss of prestress
due to elastic deformation of
concrete.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes
No
No

Yes
Yes
Yes

a) Elastic Shortening:
When the prestress is transmitted to the concrete member, there is contraction due
to prestress. This contraction causes a loss of stretch in the wire. When some of the
stretch is lost, prestress gets reduced. Let
level of steel.

Unit contraction in concrete,

be the compressive stress at the

Unit contraction in steel is also equal to

Compressive stress in steel =

Therefore, loss in prestress,

= compressive stress in steel

is computed as follows for different cases:

a) If a straight tendon is provided with an eccentricity e throughout its length (fig.
below)

b) If a parabolic cable is provided with eccentricity

centre,

Shear stress at the end section =

at the ends and

at the

Stress at the centre =

Average stress=
In the post tensioned beams several cables are provided. The cables are stretched in succession. When a
cable is stretched, this cable suffers no loss, but the cable stretched before suffers a loss due to prestress in
the cable being stretched. Thus the cable which is stretched first will suffer maximum loss due to
stretching of (n 1) cables where n is the total number of cables. The cable stretched last will not suffer
any loss. To calculate the loss due to elastic shortening, loss in the first cable is calculated and half of this
value is taken as the average loss of all the cables.
b) Shrinkage of Concrete:
There is contraction due to drying of concrete and shrinkage strain occurs in
concrete. Shrinkage strain causes the steel to lose its stretch, resulting in the loss
of prestress.
Loss of stretch = shrinkage strain

Therefore, loss in prestress =

= 0.0003 for pre-tensioned elements, and

for post-tensioned beams

Where t is the age of concrete.
c) Creep of Concrete:
Creep is the time dependent deformation due to permanent force. In prestressed
concrete, prestress is the permanent force in the member, causing compressive
stress at the level of steel. Hence there is creep strain in the member.
Creep strain =

x Elastic strain

Elastic strain =
is the stress in concrete at the level of steel.
Loss in prestress = creep strain x

d) Creep in steel (Relaxation of steel):

When the stresses in steel is more than half of its yield stress there is creep in steel
also. Force of prestress falls as a result of creep in steel. Then there is a loss of
prestress. Percentage creep varies from 1 to 5%. Creep in steel is also termed as
relaxation of steel. Relaxation loss may be estimated using table below:
Initial Stress

Relaxation loss (

0.5

0.6

35

0.7

70

0.8

90

is the characteristic strength of steel.

There are several means of reducing or balancing the loss of prestress due to creep.
Choice of proper steel helps to reduce this loss. Prestressed wires have lesser
creep. Galvanised wires also have no creep. Hence choice of proper steel will help
to reduce the los of prestress due to creep. Further, creep in steel takes place
mostly during few days. Under constant strain, creep stops entirely after about 15
days. Therefore, creep of steel could be reduced considerably by overstressing steel
about 10% above its initial stress and then releasing it to the initial stress.
e) Loss due to Friction:
Frictional loss occurs only in post tensioned beams. When the cable is stressed,
friction between the sides of the duct and the cable does not permit full tension to
be transmitted. Therefore at a point away from the jacking end prestress is less.
Frictional loss is due to
a) Length effect, and
b) Curvature effects.
Friction between the tendon and its surrounding material is the length effect and is
sometimes described as wobbling effect. Friction due to length effect depends on
the length, stress in the tendon (cable) and the coefficient of friction between the
contact materials.
Curvature effect is caused by the friction due to designed curvature of the cable.
Loss due to these effects is estimated as follows:
Consider a small length of the cable. Let ds be its length and R be the radius of
curvature. (Figure below).
Let

be the angle subtended at the centre by the length ds.

Let F be prestress at one end and F dF the prestress at the other end.

If N is the normal component of F, we have

If

is the coefficient of friction, frictional loss = dF=

Frictional loss due to wobble effect is calculated as

dF = KFds
where K is coefficient of wave effect.
Therefore, total frictional loss = dF =

or
if F is the prestress at a distance S subtending an angle
equation between limits F and Fx, we have

Value of

and K may be taken as follows:

Material in Contact
For steel and concrete
For steel and steel
For steel and lead

Loss of force = F Fx

0.55
0.30
0.25

, integrating the above

Frictional loss can be reduced by adapting the following measures:

1.

Cables should pass through metal tubes

2.

The bends should be through as small an angle as possible.

3.

Radius of curvature for bends should be large

4.

Prestressing the wire from both ends

5.

Over-tensioning the wires.

TOTAL LOSS OF PRESTRESS:
If prestress is measured at the time of pulling the wire, the stress is termed as the
jacking stress. Deducting the loss due to anchorage take-up and friction, initial
prestress is obtained. Effective stress is usually the initial stress minus other four
losses namely:
Loss due to

1.

elastic shortening

2.

shrinkage of concrete

3.

creep of concrete

4.

relaxation of steel
if jacketing stress is treated as the initial stress, effective stress is jacketing stress
minus all losses. Since in most cases frictional loss and the anchorage take-up can
be compensated by overstressing, total loss is due to elastic shortening, shrinkage
of concrete, creep of concrete and relaxation of steel. Total losses for pre-tensioned
and post-tensioned beams are as follows:
Loss due to

Pre-tensioning

Posttensioning
1
5

1. Elastic shortening
3
2. Creep of concrete
6
3. Shrinkage of
7
6
concrete
4. Creep of steel
2
3
Total
18%
15%
Loss can be expressed as percentage or in terms of stress or in terms of total
deformation or in terms of strain.

Why are high strength concrete and high tensile steel wires necessary for pre-stress
concrete ?
What is the need for the use of high strength concrete and tensile steel in Pre stressed
concrete?
(i) High strength concrete is necessary for prestress concrete as the material offers
highly resistance in tension, shear bond and bearing. In the zone of anchorage the bearing
stresses being hired; high strength concrete is invariably preferred to minimizing the cost. High
strength concrete is less liable to shrinkage cracks and has lighter modulus of elasticity and
smaller ultimate creep strain resulting in a smaller loss of prestress in steel. The use of high
strength concrete results in a reduction in a cross sectional dimensions of prestress concrete
structural element with a reduced dead weight of the material longer span become technically
and economically practicable.
(ii)Tensile strength of high tensile steel is in the range of 1400 to 2000 N/mm 2and if initially stress upto
1400 N/mm2 their will be still large stress in the high tensile reinforcement
after making deduction for loss of prestress. Therefore high tensile steel is made for prestress
concrete.

Specification of Prestressing Steel:

For prestressed concrete members, the high-tensile steel, used generally, consists of wires, bars or strands.
The high tensile strength of steel is generally achieved by marginally increasing the carbon content in
steel in comparison to mild steel. High-tensile steel usually contains 0.6 to 0.85% carbon, 0.7 to 1 %
manganese, 0.05% of sulphur and phosphorus.
The high carbon steel ingots are hot rolled into rods and cold drawn through a process of dies to reduce
the diameter and increase the tensile strength. The durability of wires gets improved due to the colddrawing operation. The cold-drawn wires are then tempered to improve their properties. Tempering or
ageing or stress relieving by heat treatment of wires at 150-420C improves the tensile strength. These
cold-drawn wires are generally available in nominal sizes of 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 mm diameter.
The prestressing steel, as per the code, should be any one of the following types:
Plain hard-drawn steel wire conforming to IS: 785(Part 1)-1966 and IS: 1785(Part 2)-1967,
Cold-drawn indented wire,
High tensile steel bar conforming to IS: 2090- 1962, and
Uncoated stress relieved strand conforming to IS: 6006-1970.
Hard-drawn steel wires which are indented or crimped are preferred for pre-tensioned members
as their bond characteristics are superior to the plain wires. Strands normally comprise two, three or seven
wires of 2 to 5 mm size. The helical form of twisted wires in the strand improves the bond strength. Two
and three-ply strands are made up of 2 mm and 3 mm diameter wires while a seven-ply strand is made by
twisting 2 to 5 mm wires.
High-tensile steel bars commonly used in prestressing are manufactured in nominal sizes of 10,
12, 16, 20, 22, 25, 28 and 32 mm diameter. The ultimate tensile strength of bars does not vary appreciably
with the diameter. This is because the high strength of the bars is due to alloying rather than due to coldworking as in the case of wires. The minimum characteristic tensile strength of high-tensile strength bars
as per code is 980 N/mm2. Their proof stress should not be less than 80% of the minimum specified
tensile strength. Elongation at rupture should be 10% for the specified gauge length.

It is specified that all prestressing steel should be free from splits, harmful stretches, surface flaws, rough,
jagged and imperfect edges and other defects likely to impair its use in prestressed concrete. Slight rust on
the surface of reinforcement may be permitted provided there is no visible surface pitting.
If any coupling is made or any other similar fixture is used in conjunction with wires or bars, it should
have an ultimate strength not less than the individual strength of the wires or bars which are being joined.
It is specified in the code that the modulus of elasticity of steel tendons should be determined by tests on
samples of steel to be actually used in construction. Otherwise the value may be obtained from the
manufacturer of the steel. If it also is not possible, then the following values may be used.
Type of steel
Plain cold-drawn wires
High tensile steel bars rolled
or heat treated
Strands

Youngs Modulus of
Elasticity (E) in kN/mm2
210
200
195

The ultimate tensile strength of a plain hard-drawn steel wire varies with its diameter. The
tensile strength decreases with increase in the diameter of the wires. Tensile strengths and elongation
characteristics of cold-drawn stress relieved wires as per IS: 1785 (Part1)-1983 is as given in the
following table:
Nominal
Diameter (mm)
2.5
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0

Minimum tensile
strength (N/mm2)
2010
1865
1715
1570
1470
1375

Elongation
(%)
2.5
2.5
3.0
4.0
4.0
4.0

Permissible Stresses in Steel

As per the Indian code, the permissible stresses in the tendons at the time of initial prestressing should not
exceed 80% of the characteristic tensile strength of the tendons. The final prestresses after allowing for all
losses of prestress should not be less than 45% of the characteristic tensile strength of tendons.
Untensioned Reinforcement
In prestressed concrete construction, use of untensioned reinforcement also has to be made along with
tendons. This is necessary as tensile stresses produced due to prestress act in lateral directions. These
stresses are taken up by untensioned reinforcement which is provided in addition to tendons in lateral as
well as longitudinal directions. The untensioned reinforcement is also needed to take on stresses produced
during the transport of the prestressed concrete members. Reinforcement used as untensioned steel should
be one of the following types:
(a) Mild steel and medium tensile steel bars,

(b) Hot-rolled deformed bars,

(c) Cold-twisted bars, and
(d) Hard-drawn steel wire fabric