The Story of

Eugène Freyssinet
The development of prestressing

by Kenneth W. Shushkewich

I
t is widely accepted that Eugène Freyssinet (1879-1962),
(Fig. 1), invented prestressed concrete.1-6 However, it is
not as well known that he was a skilled craftsman and
prolific bridge builder, and this is what prepared him to
make such a great innovation. His first influence was
working alongside the villagers in the countryside near
Objat, France, where he was born, in anything that involved
using his hands. By the age of 20, he was a competent
craftsman. His second influence was at l’Ecole Nationale
des Ponts et Chaussées, one of the top civil engineering
schools in France, where he studied under three eminent
professors: Jean Résal, Paul Séjourné, and Charles Rabut.
Rabut undoubtedly had the greatest influence on his
career, stressing the importance of experimentation and
practical experience.
After graduating in 1905, Freyssinet built a number of
concrete arch bridges, each of which successively broke his
own world record for span length. This enabled him to
develop an appreciation for creep of concrete, leading to his
insight that high-strength steel along with high-quality
concrete are necessary to create permanent prestressing in
concrete. (The tensioned, high-strength steel overcomes the
effects of creep and shrinkage to give a reserve of compression,
while the high-quality concrete greatly reduces the effects
of creep and shrinkage to be overcome—both are important
in prestressed concrete.)
Although Freyssinet applied for a patent for the first of
his three inventions for prestressing in 1928,7-9 his world-
wide reputation in the field developed only after his
spectacular rescue of the Le Havre Maritime Station in
1934. This article describes the journey taken to create this
“entirely new material”1 that led to a “revolution in the art
of building”1—a revolution that included his design of the
first pre-tensioned concrete bridge in 1936 and the first
post-tensioned concrete bridge in 1941. His vision was that
prestressing allowed concrete to become a quasi-elastic
material similar to steel for the service life of the structure.
Fig. 1: Eugène Freyssinet
(left) at the construction
site (photo courtesy of Freyssinet
International [FI])
World-Record Span-Length Arch Bridges
Freyssinet’s first structures were small arch bridges that
looked like masonry but were made of concrete. He moved
on to larger and larger concrete arch bridges, each of which
broke his own world record for span length. Along the way,
he counteracted the effects of shrinkage (which were
known) and discovered the effects of creep (which were
previously unknown).
In 1907, Freyssinet designed and built the Prairéal-sur-
Besbre Bridge (Fig. 2), a three-hinged arch having a span
length of 26 m (85 ft). This project was the world’s first
application of precompression in a concrete arch as a
means of removing its formwork. Jacks installed within the
arch compressed the concrete, offsetting the shrinkage that
occurred during setting and hardening of the concrete,
and lifted the arch off the formwork so that it could easily
be removed.
The world-record span-length bridges subsequently
designed and built by Freyssinet (Fig. 3) were:
•• Le Veurdre Bridge (72.5 m [238 ft] span) in 1911-1912;

Concrete international October 2013 47

•• Villeneuve-sur-Lot Bridge (96 m [315 ft] span) in
1914-1920;
•• Saint-Pierre-du-Vauvray Bridge (131 m [430 ft] span) in
1922-1923; and
•• Plougastel Bridge (three spans of 186 m [610 ft]) in
1924-1930.
Detailed descriptions of these bridges can be found in
References 1 to 5.
Perseverance to Understand Creep
The construction of these bridges gave Freyssinet an
appreciation for the time-dependent behavior of concrete
under load, a phenomenon that he termed “deferred
deformation” and which we now know as creep. This is
something that the administrative authorities at the time
obstinately denied the existence of, and the official
laboratories neglected or refused to measure over
sufficiently long periods of time.
In his design of Le Veurdre Bridge (Fig. 3(a)), Freyssinet
complied with the 1906 French Regulations, which mandated
Fig. 2: Prairéal-sur-Besbre Bridge, a three-hinged arch with a
span length of 26 m (85 ft) built in 1907 (photo courtesy of Association
Eugène Freyssinet [AEF])
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 3: Bridges designed and built by Freyssinet: (a) Le Veurdre
Bridge built 1911-1912, 72.5 m (238 ft) span; (b) Villeneuve-sur-
Lot Bridge built 1914-1920, 96 m (315 ft) span; (c) Saint-Pierre-
du-Vauvray Bridge built 1922-1923, 131 m (430 ft) span; and
(d) Plougastel Bridge built 1924-1930, three spans of 186 m
(610 ft) (photos courtesy of AEF)
48 October 2013 Concrete international
a three-hinged arch (rather than a two-hinged arch as he
had used for a 50 m [164 ft] test model) and erroneously
stated that Young’s modulus for concrete is constant. The
initial bliss after the completion of construction of this
bridge was soon followed by a dreadful agony as disconcerting
deformations started appearing, first slowly and then
progressively more rapidly, until there was no possible
outcome imaginable other than collapse.
According to Freyssinet: “It was evening when I reached
Moulins and I got on my bicycle and went to Le Veurdre to
wake up Biguet and three reliable men. Between the five of
us, we replaced the decentering jacks, and as soon as there
was enough light to use the levels and the staffs, we began
to raise all three vaults at once. Le Veurdre Bridge regained
its shape and was cured of the disease which had been
about to finish it off. It behaved perfectly until 1940; it was
destroyed in the war.”1,2
On future bridges, Freyssinet eliminated the crown
hinge, and continued “studying the problem of deferred
deformation in concrete which seemed to me to be the
only possible obstacle to making initial stress…into
something permanent.”1
It was for the construction of the Plougastel Bridge
(Fig. 3(d)) that Freyssinet conducted detailed creep tests
during the 2-1/2 year period between August 1926 and
February 1929. These tests allowed him to obtain complex
creep curves that verified his theory for the time-dependent
behavior of concrete under load.10,11 Figures 2 and 3 in
References 10 and 11, respectively, show the setup of the
creep tests and the creep curves as observed and predicted
by Freyssinet. These results allowed him to become confident
that the time-dependent deformation of concrete was
limited in magnitude and would eventually dissipate with
time. He was therefore convinced that he could overcome
its effects in the design of prestressed concrete elements.
It was through his understanding of the time-dependent
behavior of concrete (creep and shrinkage) that Freyssinet
was able to introduce prestressed concrete, which used both
high-strength steel and high-quality concrete. The high-
strength steel counteracted the losses due to creep and
shrinkage so there would always be a reserve of compression
in the concrete. The high-quality concrete made using
vibration (mechanical means), compression (expulsion of
water), and heating (steam curing) minimized the losses by
reducing the water-cement ratio (w/c) at initial set.
Development of Prestressing
In 1928, Freyssinet patented the first of his three inventions
for applying compression to concrete. This was a process of
applying compression by “pre-tension and bonded wires,”
which allowed the manufacture of precast elements (this is
the birth of prestressing and pre-tensioning). His other two
methods for applying compression to concrete were his
1938 patent of the flat jack and his 1939 patent of the
concrete anchorage (this is the birth of post-tensioning).
Fig. 4: Forclum pre-tensioned concrete electricity poles (first
prestressed concrete elements in history) (photo courtesy of AEF)
On October 2, 1928, Eugène Freyssinet and Jean Séailles
applied for a patent titled “fabrication process for reinforced
concrete elements,” a process adapted to the manufacture of
precast beams, poles, pipes, sleepers, and more. This patent
was registered under the number 680,547 in France. The
patent was issued on January 22, 1930, and published on
May 1, 1930. Reference 7 is an English version of this
patent. Freyssinet and Séailles described, with absolute
precision, the theory of permanent precompression in
concretes or other materials and their overall potential.
At the time of the 1928 patent, the scientific community
did not believe in prestressing. Thus, Freyssinet had to go
out alone in the world to demonstrate the merits and
possibilities of prestressing. He became an industrialist
producing electricity poles at the Forclum plant at Montargis
in France (Fig. 4). The result was a complete technical
success, but a commercial failure due to the 1929 world-
wide economic depression.
Freyssinet had perfected the grinding fineness of cement,
improved on his previous invention for mechanical
vibration of concrete, invented steam curing to accelerate
the rate of concrete hardening and rate of production, and
perfected the industrial precasting process for precast
concrete elements. However, in the 5 years from 1929 to
1933, he had lost the entire fortune he had accumulated
during the previous part of his career.
Freyssinet was, fortunately, saved by a miracle. At that
very moment, the Maritime Station at Le Havre in France,
completed in 1933 for the gigantic ocean liner, the Norman-
die, was sinking 25 mm (1 in.) per month into a recent
filling of dredged material (Fig. 5). According to Freyssinet:
“Imminent collapse seemed to be inevitable. I proposed a
solution which, despite its boldness, was adopted without
argument as it consisted in the only possible hope of
avoiding disaster.”3
The strengthening of the building was completed in
1934. The first part of Freyssinet’s solution consisted of
Fig. 5: Rescue of the Le Havre Maritime Station (illustration courtesy
of AEF)
adding new footings between the existing footings. To
make the new and existing concrete a monolithic prestressed
horizontal element, the unit was prestressed with parallel
wires turned around two reinforced concrete end anchorages.
One anchorage was displaced by hydraulic jacks having a
force of up to 1000 tonnes (1100 tons).
The second part of Freyssinet’s solution was to install
700 piles at the locations of the new footings, 25 to 30 m
(82 to 98 ft) long, that extended into firm layers of soil
(Fig. 5). The piles were cast inside the building in 2 m
(6.6 ft) sections (because of the limited headroom), and
were assembled together and driven into the ground using
special jacks designed by Freyssinet. Vibration, compression,
and steam curing were all used to improve the rate of
casting and quality of concrete. The piles were then prestressed
against the footing using hydraulic jacks having a vertical
prestressing force of 320 tonnes (352 tons). The settlement
ceased as soon as the first piles were installed.
The result was both spectacular and convincing, and at
once earned Freyssinet a worldwide reputation. This started
the collaboration between Eugène Freyssinet and Edme
Campenon in 1934 on the entire range of construction
projects of the Campenon Bernard group, both in France
and Algeria—a collaboration that finally was destined to
ensure the development of prestressing.
Freyssinet next invented the flat jack (Fig. 6) in 1936 for
compressing the raft of the Portes-de-Fer Dam in Algeria,
and then, immediately after that, at a much grander scale,
for raising the height of the Beni Badhel Dam in Algeria
by 7 m (23 ft) to bring it up to 67 m (220 ft). He applied
for a patent on August 1, 1938, titled “combination of
jacks and their application in construction, especially in
reinforced concrete constructions” and the patent was
validated on August 21, 1939. Reference 8 is an English
version of this patent.
The flat jack (Fig. 6) consists of two stamped steel sheets
that are connected together. By hydraulically introducing a
Concrete international October 2013 49

Load
Load
Pump Bearing Pump
plates
Cross section
Purge
Plan
Inlet
Inactive state Inflated state
Fig. 6: Flat jack (schematic) (adapted from Reference 3)
(a) (b)
Fig. 7: Post-tensioning: (a) concrete anchorage cone (photo
courtesy of AEF); and (b) tensioning jack (photo courtesy of FI)
fluid under pressure, the flat jack is inflated and can develop
considerable force. It can be used to compress a concrete
element or lift a structure. It is a remarkable device for its
power, lightness, and low cost. The fluid can be oil, resin,
grout, cement, or other ingredients. The flat jack can be
used to vary the compressive forces applied with time to
allow for the adjustment of structures.
Freyssinet then introduced post-tensioning (Fig. 7),
whereupon he said: “At the beginning of the war, in
September 1939, I made the most decisive progress since
1928 in the methods of cable tensioning, by creating
systems making it possible to anchor a group of wires
under tension, by means of self-locking off inside the
cones.”3 He added: “I consider this anchorage to be the
greatest step forward which I have made in the idea of
prestressing since the idea first came to me in 1903.”1
On August 26, 1939, Eugène Freyssinet applied for a
patent titled “tensioned cable anchorage system for prestressed
concrete construction.” This patent was registered under the
number 926,505 in France. The patent was issued on April 21,
1947 (because of the war) and published on October 3, 1947.
Reference 9 is an English version of this patent.
50 October 2013 Concrete international
The post-tensioning anchorage system consists of 12 x 5 mm
(0.20 in.) diameter parallel steel wires locked or anchored in
a concrete anchorage cone by a tensioning jack (Fig. 7). The
reinforced concrete anchorage cone consists of a cylindrical
block having a central conical hole and a central conical
fluted block (or pin). The tensioning jack is comprised of
two pistons: an outer piston which tensions the wires and
an inner piston which pushes the pin into the conical hole
while under tension. The steel wires are threaded through
the anchorage and tensioned with the jack and locked-off,
thus transmitting their tension to the structure directly via
the anchorage. Grout is introduced into the jack after
stressing and enters the post-tensioning duct through a hole
in the pin. Figure 7(b) shows a tendon being stressed, a
stressed tendon with elongated wires, and a stressed tendon
with the tails of the wires trimmed and bent over.
As aptly stated by Ordoñez: “The prestressing jack and
Freyssinet’s conical anchorage are of remarkable technical
simplicity and beauty. Without doubt, this invention is one
of the purest, most universal works of genius in the whole
history of building, comparable in importance to the
wedge, the rivet, or the weld.”1
First Prestressed Concrete Bridges
Freyssinet designed and built the first prestressed concrete
(pre-tensioned) bridge1,12 at the site of the Portes-de-Fer Dam
at Oued Fodda in Algeria in 1936 (Fig. 8). The bridge is on
the downstream side of the dam. It has four simply supported
spans of 19 m (62 ft) with a width of 4.6 m (15 ft) and is
comprised of 12 pre-tensioned precast concrete I girders
(Fig. 8(a) and (b)). The concrete of the girders was vibrated,
compacted, and heated to accelerate curing, as Freyssinet
previously did at Forclum and Le Havre. The bridge is still in
use today, carrying a significant amount of traffic (Fig. 8(c)).
Freyssinet also designed the first post-tensioned concrete
bridge6,12 in 1941 (Fig. 9), which also happens to be the first
precast concrete segmental bridge. The Luzancy Bridge over
the Marne River in France has a span of 55 m (180 ft),
which was yet another world record at the time. It is very
light in appearance and has a remarkable span-depth ratio
of 43. Construction started in 1941, but was interrupted by
the war, and not completed until 1946.
The bridge was cast in segments and erected (Fig. 9(a))
by launching equipment consisting of masts and stay
cables, one of the most imaginative systems ever used for
the assembly of prefabricated bridge elements. The first
three segments at each end were cantilevered by this
high-line method, and then the central 16 segments, having
a length of 39 m (128 ft) and a weight of 90 tonnes (99 tons),
were launched and lowered into place. Post-tensioning
tendons were then stressed and flat jacks were activated at
the abutments. The bridge was post-tensioned in all three
directions (longitudinal, vertical, and transverse).
The Luzancy Bridge was visited by the author in October
2007—60 years after its completion (Fig. 9(b)). It is in
(a) (a)

(b)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 8: First prestressed
concrete (pre-tensioned)
bridge at the site of the
Portes-de-Fer Dam at
Oued Fodda in Algeria:
(a) after construction in 1936
(Reference 1); (b) pre-tensioned
precast concrete I girder used
for the bridge (Reference 1);
and (c) in 2009 (photo courtesy
of Zivotije)

Fig. 9: First post-tensioned and precast concrete segmental

pristine condition and the concrete of the precast segments
is of excellent quality—looking like that of a new bridge.
The only work that has been done to the bridge is that flat
jacks have been rejacked and shimmed a few times to make
adjustments for creep.
The great success of the Luzancy Bridge allowed Freyssinet
and the Campenon Bernard group to build five similar
bridges having spans of 74 m (243 ft) on the Marne River,
between 1947 and 1951. All precast segments were made at
a central plant. They were assembled in sections using
temporary prestressing, transported to the site by barge,
installed by the mast and stay-cable system, and completed
with the addition of permanent post-tensioning.
Legacy of Eugène Freyssinet
The concept of prestressed concrete developed by
Eugène Freyssinet made him known all over the world, and
more precisely all over the construction community. His
contribution, however, is immensely larger than the
development of a specific technique. He was always trying
to use materials to their utmost to give the best of their
capacity. The concept of prestressing was one method he
used to reach this final target.
Even though precast, prestressed concrete has since been
widely used throughout the world and has generated very
large and profitable companies, this would not have been
the inventor’s main concern. He was less interested in
bridge, Luzancy Bridge over the Marne River in France, with a
span of 55 m (180 ft): (a) during construction (photo courtesy of AEF);
and (b) in 2007 (photo courtesy of the author)
making money and being in the public eye than designing
and building economical and long-lasting structures. Since a
great number of his structures (those not bombed during
the war) are still standing today and in exceptional condition,
we must say that he reached his objective.
Freyssinet has been proclaimed “one of the most complete
engineers of the 20th century and one of the greatest
builders in history.”1 This article celebrates five of the
significant engineering and construction achievements of
this prolific genius, namely:
•• Designing and constructing world-record span-length
arch bridges;
•• Being the first to understand the time-dependent
deformation of concrete under load (creep);
•• Developing prestressing (pre-tensioning, flat jacks, and
post-tensioning);
•• Rescuing the Le Havre Maritime Station from collapse; and
•• Designing the first pre-tensioned concrete bridge and
the first post-tensioned concrete bridge.
Readers interested in taking a more detailed look at the
prolific career and the vast achievements of Eugène Freyssinet
are encouraged to consult References 1 to 6.

Concrete international October 2013 51

Table 1:
Freyssinet prestressing patent numbers
Priority date France United Kingdom United States
Oct. 2, 1928 FR 680,547 GB 338,864 —

FR 36,703
Nov. 19, 1928 GB 338,934 —
Pre-tensioning 1st addition to FR 680,547

FR 38,276
Sep. 3, 1929 GB 364,621 —
2nd addition to FR 680,547

Aug. 1, 1938 not found

Flat jacks GB 589,019 US 2,226,201
June 3, 1939 FR 859,903

Aug. 26, 1939 FR 926,505 GB 591,218 US 2,270,240

Oct. 28, 1940 FR 870,070 GB 592,839 US 2,371,882

Post-tensioning FR 54,603
Sep. 30, 1941 GB 592,430 US 2,618,147
1st addition to FR 926,505

Apr. 27, 1948 FR 1,010,101 GB 657,738 US 2,686,963

References
1. Ordoñez, J.A.F., Eugène Freyssinet, Editions Eyrolles, Paris,
France, 1979, 444 pp. (in English and French)
2. Lemoine, H.; Xercavins, P.; and Marrey, B., Eugène Freyssinet—
Un Amour Sans Limite, Editions du Linteau, Paris, France, 1993,
187 pp. (in French)
3. Fargeot, B.; Montagnon, J.; Xercavins, P.; de la Fuente, C.;
Guyon, F.; and Jartoux, P., Eugène Freyssinet: A Revolution in
the Art of Construction, Presses de l’Ecole National des Ponts et
Chaussees, Paris, France, 2004, 200 pp.
4. Xercavins, P.; Demarthe, D.; and Shushkewich K., “Eugène
Freyssinet—The Invention of Prestressed Concrete and Precast
Segmental Construction,” paper on the Association Eugène Freyssinet
website, 2008, 24 pp. (http://efreyssinet-association.com/association/
documents/doc/P.%20Xercavins%20D.%20Demarthe%20K.%20
Shushkewich.pdf)
5. Xercavins, P.; Demarthe D.; and Shushkewich K., “Eugène
Freyssinet—His Incredible Journey to Invent and Revolutionize
Prestressed Concrete Construction,” paper presented at the 3rd
fib International Congress, Washington, DC, June 2010, 28 pp.
(http://aspirebridge.com/resources/fib_Congress_Freyssinet_by_
Shushkewich.pdf)
6. Shushkewich, K.W., “Eugène Freyssinet—Invention of
Prestressed Concrete and Precast Semental Construction,” Structural
Engineering International, Journal of the IABSE, V. 22, No. 3,
Aug. 2012, pp. 415-420.
7. Freyssinet, E., and Séailles, J., “Process for the Manufacture
of Articles of Reinforced Concrete,” UK Patent 338864, filed in
France Oct. 2, 1928, and issued Nov. 18, 1930.
8. Freyssinet, E., “Jack Apparatus,” US Patent 2226201, filed in
France Aug. 1, 1938, and issued Dec. 24, 1940.
9. Freyssinet, E., “Anchoring of Tensioned Cables in Concrete
Constructions,” US Patent 2270240, filed in France Aug. 26, 1939,
and issued Jan. 20, 1942.
Prestressing Patents of
Eugène Freyssinet
The patent numbers for Freyssinet’s three inventions
for prestressing are given in Table 1 along with their
priority date (original filing date in France). Copies of
selected patents are available in English (or French) with
the online version of this article on the CI website. The
patents are interesting and insightful.
10. Freyssinet, E., Une révolution dans les techniques du béton,
Librairie Eyrolles, Paris, France, 1936, 118 pp. (in French)
11. Freyssinet, E., “Aspects nouveaux des problèms du ciment
armé,” AIPC / IABSE / IVBH Publications, Zurich, Switzerland,
1936, pp. 265-304. (in French)
12. Freyssinet, E., “Une révolution dans l’art de bâtir : les
constructions précontraintes,” Travaux, No. 101, Nov. 1941,
pp. 335-359. (in French)
Selected for reader interest by the editors.
ACI member Kenneth W. Shushkewich
is with KSI Bridge Engineers and for
over 38 years has specialized in the
design and construction of unique
and innovative prestressed concrete
bridges. He was formerly with Jean
Muller International and T.Y. Lin
International. He is a member of Joint
ACI-ASCE Committees 343, Concrete
Bridge Design, and 423, Prestressed Concrete.

52 October 2013 Concrete international

 Patent Freyssinet Patents in France - compiled by Ken Shushkewich of KSI Bridge Engineers in Oct 2013 Priority Patent
Number Date Date

1 FR598811 (A) Système de barrage à vannes en arc 1925-05-26 1925-12-26

2 FR623278 (A) Perfectionnement à la construction des ponts suspendus en béton armé 1926-10-18 1927-06-21

3 FR628224 (A) Perfectionnements apportés à la construction des portes roulantes à panneaux multiples 1927-01-29 1927-10-20

4 FR629668 (A) Perfectionnements apportés à la construction des portes roulantes de grands hangars d'aviation ou d'aérostation
1927-02-22 1927-11-15

5 FR644726 (A) Sheds en béton armé de grande portée 1927-11-29 1928-10-12

6 FR670525 (A) Perfectionnement apporté aux constructions voûtées en béton armé 1928-06-22 1929-11-29

7 FR680547 (A) Process for the manufacture of articles of reinforced concrete 1928-10-02 1930-05-01

8 FR36703 (E) Procédé de fabrication de pièces en béton armé 1928-11-19 1930-08-02

9 FR678983 (A) Procédé d'obtention d'éléments de construction légers et très résistants 1928-11-22 1930-04-07

10 FR38276 (E) Procédé de fabrication de pièces en béton armé 1929-09-03 1931-05-12

11 FR692313 (A) Procédé de fabrication de pièces ou corps moulés à partir de mortiers ou béton 1929-09-04 1930-11-04

12 FR703157 (A) Procédé et dispositif particulièrement destinés à la désaération de mélanges liquides ou plastiques 1929-12-30 1931-04-25

13 FR708726 (A) Procédé d'assemblage ou de jonction de pièces en béton armé 1930-04-08 1931-07-28

14 FR717763 (A) Procédé de construction de surfaces de ruissellement de réfrigérants d'eau 1930-09-22 1932-01-14

15 FR720297 (A) Perfectionnements aux matériaux de construction 1930-10-14 1932-02-17

16 FR43381 (E) Improvements in apparatus for manufacturing articles of reinforced concrete 1930-11-27 1934-05-11

17 FR726510 (A) Flotteurs pouvant être immergés à de grandes profondeurs 1931-01-19 1932-05-30

18 FR711694 (A) Procédé et appareil permettant de fabriquer des bétons et mortiers et plus généralement tous mélanges privés
1931-05-28
d'air 1931-09-15

19 FR750729 (A) Accouplement élastique 1932-05-14 1933-08-17

20 FR42796 (E) Accouplement élastique 1932-06-01 1933-10-10

21 FR762477 (A) Dalles de revêtement 1933-01-05 1934-04-12

22 FR764495 (A) Procédé de fabrication de pièces ou corps moulés en mortiers ou bétons 1933-02-09 1934-05-22

23 FR764505 (A) Procédé de fabrication de corps creux en béton armé et appareils destinés à sa mise en pratique 1933-02-10 1934-05-23

24 FR781388 (A) Perfectionnements à la fabrication de pièces ou corps moulés en mortiers ou bétons 1934-01-22 1935-05-15

25 FR798203 (A) Dispositif permettant la solidarisation ainsi que la désolidarisation instantanées de deux corps ou deux objets
1935-01-11
et applicable enparticulier
1936-05-12 au battage, fonç

26 FR797785 (A) Procédé et dispositif pour l'exécution de constructions monolithes en béton armé 1935-01-11 1936-05-04

27 FR797786 (A) Procédé d'accélération du durcissement des mortiers et bétons 1935-01-15 1936-05-04

28 FR46379 (E) Procédé et appareils particulièrement destinés à la fabrication des pièces en béton armé 1935-01-29 1936-06-02

29 FR46772 (E) Procédé d'accélération du durcissement des mortiers et bétons 1935-04-29 1936-09-11
 Patent Freyssinet Patents in France - compiled by Ken Shushkewich of KSI Bridge Engineers in Oct 2013 Priority Patent
Number Date Date

30 FR50665 (E) Improvements in and relating to joint-making packing devices 1938-07-29 1941-02-20

31 not found Dispositif de vérin et ses applications notamment dans les constructions et plus particulièrement dans les 1938-08-01
constructions en béton
1939-08-21
armé

32 FR859903 (A) Dispositif de vérin et ses applications 1939-06-03 1941-01-02

33 FR860164 (A) Perfectionnements aux procédés et appareils de frettage au moyen de fils ou câbles enroulés sous tension1939-06-14
et produits frettés
1941-01-08
ainsi obtenus

34 FR860440 (A) Système de déversoir de surface à grand débit et faible encombrement 1939-06-23 1941-01-14

35 FR926505 (A) Système d'ancrages de câbles sous tension destinés à la réalisation de constructions en béton précontraint
1939-08-26 1947-10-03

36 FR865956 (A) Procédé de fabrication de pièces moulées, notamment de pales d'hélice, en matières fibreuses agglomérées
1940-02-19 1941-06-11

37 FR865955 (A) Procédé d'obtention d'ébauches ou de pièces en matières fibro-plastiques comprimées et appareil permettant
1940-02-19
sa réalisation1941-06-11

38 FR870070 (A) Dispositif de mise en tension et d'ancrage de câbles convenant en particulier à la réalisation de constructions
1940-10-28
en béton précontraint
1942-03-02

39 FR874805 (A) Supports à base immergée, procédé et dispositifs servant à les construire 1941-04-19 1942-08-27

40 FR54603 (E) Système d'ancrages de câbles sous tension destinés à la réalisation de constructions en béton précontraint
1941-09-30 1950-07-07

41 FR928258 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de mise en tension d'armatures, notamment des frettes, particulièrement applicables
1943-06-29
à la réalisation de
1947-11-24
réservoirs et autres corps

42 FR989666 (A) Constructions et éléments de construction soumis à des contraintes préalables etleurs procédés d'obtention
1944-02-24 1951-09-12

43 FR927829 (A) Construction en forme de systèmes articulés ou réticulés, éventuellement haubannées, et cas particulier des
1944-04-22
pylônes 1947-11-11

44 FR991703 (A) Procédés d'ancrage d'armatures mises en tension et appareils permettant la mise entension et l'ancrage 1944-04-28 1951-10-09

45 FR992210 (A) Procédé et dispositifs d'ancrages d'armatures et pièces munies de tels ancrages 1944-05-26 1951-10-16

46 FR55767 (E) Procédé et dispositifs de mise en tension d'armatures, notamment de frettes, particulièrement applicables
1944-06-08
à la réalisation de1952-09-05
réservoirs et autres corps c

47 FR927832 (A) Procédé de réalisation par éléments séparés de constructions foncées, et notamment de pieux, et constructions
1944-07-19
ainsi obtenues
1947-11-11

48 FR992934 (A) Système de vannes particulièrement adapté aux usines marémotrices 1944-10-05 1951-10-24

49 FR994012 (A) Câbles destinés à soumettre une matière à des contraintes préalables, leurs procédés de fabrication et leurs
1944-12-05
modes d'application
1951-11-09

50 FR995550 (A) Procédé d'amélioration des fils ou tiges d'armatures destinés principalement au béton précontraint et armatures
1945-03-23
ainsi améliorées
1951-12-04

51 FR995556 (A) Transporteur à câbles à trajectoire rectiligne ou quasi rectiligne 1945-03-26 1951-12-04

52 FR927833 (A) Dispositifs d'assemblage des rails et de leurs traverses particulièrement applicables aux traverses en béton1945-04-27
précontraint 1947-11-11

53 FR928272 (A) Procédé d'ancrage des armatures dans les pièces armées précontraintes et ancrages ainsi réalisés 1945-05-15 1947-11-24

54 FR997871 (A) Procédé de réalisation d'aires en béton de très grandes dimensions pouvant recevoir de fortes charges et1945-08-14
application aux pistes
1952-01-11
d'envol d'avions lourds

55 FR1000644 (A) Perfectionnements aux procédés et aux appareils de fabrication des pièces moulées de révolution, en particulier
1946-03-18
de tuyaux en
1952-02-14
béton

56 FR1001281 (A) Procédé d'accroissement de la résistance offerte par les terrains et de mesure précise de ladite résistance1946-04-08
et ouvrages faisant
1952-02-21
application du procédé

57 FR1005209 (A) Constructions en béton précontraint et leur procédé de fabrication 1947-06-18 1952-04-08

58 FR1005342 (A) Procédé de réalisation de barrages-réservoirs et barrages ainsi obtenus 1947-07-04 1952-04-09
 Patent Freyssinet Patents in France - compiled by Ken Shushkewich of KSI Bridge Engineers in Oct 2013 Priority Patent
Number Date Date

59 FR1006559 (A) Procédé de réalisation de quais en terrain vaseux et quais réalisés selon ce procédé 1948-02-02 1952-04-24

60 FR57308 (E) Procédé de réalisation de barrages-réservoirs et barrages ainsi obtenus 1948-03-16 1953-01-02

61 FR1010101 (A) Dispositif et procédé d'ancrage d'armatures sur les pièces armées 1948-04-27 1952-06-09

62 FR58586 (E) Procédé et dispositif de réalisation de constructions creuses precontraintes radialement applicables en particulier
1948-04-29aux travaux
1954-01-27
souterrains

63 FR58593 (E) Procédé de réalisation d'aires en béton de très grandes dimensions pouvant recevoir de fortes charges et1948-07-03
application aux pistes
1954-01-27
d'envol d'avions lourds

64 FR1010404 (A) Perfectionnements aux vibrateurs électromagnétiques 1948-08-11 1952-06-11

65 FR1011419 (A) Perfectionnements aux câbles destinés à la réalisation de constructions en béton précontraint 1949-02-03 1952-06-23

66 FR60908 (E) Procédé et dispositifs de réalisation de constructions creuses précontraintes radialement applicables en particulier
1949-02-04 aux travaux
1955-02-21
souterrains

67 FR1000168 (A) Perfectionnement aux gaines pour câbles de mise en précontrainte d'ouvrages en béton 1949-11-08 1952-02-08

68 FR1018442 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de mise à l'eau de corps flottants 1950-05-03 1953-01-07

69 FR1018469 (A) Couvertures, en particulier pour grands espaces tels que hangars d'aviation 1950-05-08 1953-01-08

70 FR1035366 (A) Routes en béton précontraint et leur procédé d'exécution 1951-04-13 1953-08-24

71 FR1048469 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de prise en charge d'efforts sensiblement horizontaux dans les constructions installées
1951-09-12
en terrain médiocre
1953-12-22

72 FR1043459 (A) Réservoir enterré en béton précontraint convenant en particulier au stockage deshydrocarbures et son procédé
1951-10-04
d'obtention1953-11-09

73 FR1044267 (A) Dispositif d'assemblage entre une structure porteuse et un support vertical 1951-10-29 1953-11-16

74 FR1063854 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de réalisation de fondations d'ouvrages maritimes 1952-05-24 1954-05-07

75 FR1081727 (A) Vérin hydraulique de mise en tension et d'ancrage d'armatures de précontrainte 1952-07-30 1954-12-22

76 FR1080664 (A) Perfectionnements aux vérins 1953-04-15 1954-12-13

77 FR1080735 (A) Structures composites de béton et d'acier, en particulier structures fléchies 1953-04-22 1954-12-13

78 FR1092412 (A) Aires en béton précontraint et leur procédé de réalisation 1953-10-21 1955-04-21

79 FR66109 (E) Aires en béton précontraint et leur procédé de réalisation 1954-01-06 1956-05-16

80 FR1110285 (A) Dispositif de liaison élastique à un ou plusieurs degrés de liberté 1954-05-25 1956-02-10

81 FR1133932 (A) Procédé et dispositifs pour la construction d'immeubles à multiples étages 1955-06-08 1957-04-03

82 FR1230014 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de pose et de dépose d'une canalisation sous-marine 1959-03-27 1960-09-13

83 FR1234868 (A) Perfectionnements aux canalisations de gaz sous-marines flottant entre le fond et la surface 1959-05-22 1960-10-19

84 FR1238866 (A) Procédé et dispositifs de fabrication en place de tuyaux continus sans joints apparents 1959-07-08 1960-08-19

85 FR1269606 (A) Improvements in or relating to methods for forming members embodying prestressed concrete and members
1960-03-28
made by such1961-08-18
methods

86 FR1271062 (A) Gazoducs transmarins flottants et leur procédé d'exécution 1960-04-27 1961-09-08

87 FR1344173 (A) Perfectionnements aux poutres en treillis et autres systèmes triangulés en béton,applicables, notamment,1961-08-25
aux ponts à grande
1963-11-29
portée
 Patent Freyssinet Patents in Great Britain - compiled by Ken Shushkewich of KSI Bridge Engineers in Oct 2013 Priority Patent
Number Date Date

1 GB338864 (A) Process for the manufacture of articles of reinforced concrete 1928-10-02 1930-11-18

2 GB338934 (A) Process for the manufacture of reinforced concrete 1928-11-19 1930-11-25

3 GB344007 (A) Process for obtaining light structural elements of great strength 1928-11-22 1931-02-23

4 GB364621 (A) Process and apparatus for the manufacture of articles of reinforced concrete 1929-09-03 1932-01-04

5 GB366544 (A) Process and apparatus for the manufacture of moulded articles from mortar or concrete 1929-09-04 1932-02-03

6 GB365290 (A) Process and apparatus for deaeration of hydraulic binding agents and mixtures for use in connection with1929-12-30
the manufacture 1932-01-21
of concrete, agglomerates and artificia

7 GB376308 (A) Improvements in method of assembling or joining preformed building and paving elements of reinforced 1930-04-08
concrete 1932-07-08

8 GB367242 (A) Improvements in process and apparatus for manufacturing concretes and mortars and generally all mixtures
1930-05-28
free from air 1932-02-18

9 GB422741 (A) Improvements in apparatus for manufacturing articles of reinforced concrete 1930-11-27 1935-01-17

10 GB393576 (A) Improvements in process and apparatus for manufacturing pieces of reinforced concrete 1930-11-27 1933-05-26

11 GB393606 (A) Improvements in process for manufacturing pieces of reinforced concrete 1930-11-27 1933-05-26

12 GB431484 (A) Improvements in methods and apparatus for the manufacture of moulded bodies from mortars or concretes
1933-02-09 1935-07-09

13 GB433059 (A) Process and apparatus for the manufacture of reinforced concrete hollow bodies 1933-02-10 1935-08-08

14 GB468706 (A) Method and apparatus for the construction of reinforced concrete monolithic structures 1935-01-11 1937-07-09

15 GB453555 (A) Method of accelerating the hardening of mortars and concrete 1935-01-15 1936-09-14

16 GB544003 (A) Improvements in and relating to joint-making packing devices 1938-07-29 1942-03-24

17 GB589019 (A) Improvements in and relating to jack apparatus 1938-08-01 1947-06-10

18 GB619071 (A) Improvements relating to the hooping of bodies with tensioned wire 1939-06-14 1949-03-03

19 GB591218 (A) IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND DEVICES FOR ANCHORING WIRES REINFORCING PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
1939-08-26
STRUCTURES1947-08-12

20 GB592839 (A) IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND DEVICES FOR ANCHORING WIRES REINFORCING PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
1940-10-28
AND ORTHER1947-10-01
STRUCTURES

21 GB592430 (A) IMPROVEMENTS TO OR RELATING TO DEVICES FOR ANCHORING TENSIONED CABLES FOR PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE
1941-09-30CONSTRUCTIONS
1947-09-17

22 GB629872 (A) Railway sleepers and other articles made of pre-stressed reinforced concrete, and a method of and apparatus
1942-02-14
for manufacturing
1949-09-29
such parts

23 GB600211 (A) Improvements in or relating to method and means for tensioning reinforcements and products obtained 1943-06-29
thereby 1948-04-02

24 GB612324 (A) A method of and apparatus for anchoring reinforcements, in pre-stressed concrete andstructures provided
1944-05-26
with such anchorings
1948-11-11

25 GB602105 (A) Process for producing by separate elements structures to be driven into the ground, and particularly piles,1944-07-19
and structures thus
1948-05-20
obtained

26 GB646708 (A) A reinforcement for use in connection with pre-stressed concrete 1945-03-23 1950-11-29

27 GB636174 (A) A process for manufacturing pre-stressed reinforced concrete members 1945-05-15 1950-04-26

28 GB623729 (A) Method of constructing concrete surfaces adapted to accommodate heavy loads, and applicable more particularly
1945-08-14 to runways
1949-05-23
for heavy aircraft

29 GB628750 (A) Process for the manufacture of pre-stressed concrete articles, particularly railway sleepers and articles thus
1946-02-12
obtained 1949-09-05

30 GB655129 (A) Improvements in or relating to retaining dams 1948-03-16 1951-07-11

31 GB657738 (A) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO METHODAND MEANS FOR ANCHORING REINFORCEMENTS 1948-04-27 1951-09-26

32 GB707358 (A) Buried reservoir of pre-stressed concrete suitable in particular for storing hydro-carbons and its method of
1951-10-04
preparation 1954-04-14

33 GB719284 (A) Improvements in assembly systems between a carrier structure and a vertical standardor the like 1951-10-29 1954-12-01

34 GB740172 (A) Improvement in hydraulic jack for putting under tension and anchoring the re-inforcement wires or rods of
1952-07-30
pre-stressed concrete
1955-11-09

35 GB740121 (A) Composite structures of concrete and steel, and, in particular, flexed structures 1953-04-22 1955-11-09

36 GB948096 (A) Improvements in or relating to methods for forming members embodying prestressed concrete and members
1960-03-28
made by such1964-01-29
methods
 PATENT SPECIFICATION
Oonventlon Date (France): Oct. 2, 7928. 338,864
Application Date (in United Kingdom): June 18, 1929. No. 18,711/29.

O()mplete Accepted: Nov. 18, 7980. 2. J~N i9'"

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.

Process for the Manufacture of Articles of Reinforced Concrete.

1Ve, EUGENE FREYSSI:t-I""ET', a French same resistance both to compression and
Citizen, of 28, rue Saint J ames, N euilly- tension. 55
sur-Seine (Seine), France, and JEAN rrhe applicants have discovered that It
SEAII,Ll!:S, a French Citizen, of 280, Boule- is theoretically possible to avoid these
5 vaI'd Raspail, Paris, :France, do hereby drawbacks and to impart to the concreto
declare the nature of this invention and articles resistances which are much higher
in what manner the same is to be per- than those which can be obtained with the 60
formed, to be particularly described and ordinary methods of reinforcing concrete,
ascertained in and by the following ,by imparting to them properties identical
statement ; - with those of homogeneous articles
10 The present invention has for its object eudowed with high resistance to tensinll
a method of manufacturing articles <If if certain permanent strains have been 65
reinforced concrete moulded in advance set up in the concrete prior to the appli-
and adapted to be employed or put in posi- eation of the forces which the articles are
tion only after setting and hardening has intended to resist.
15 taken piace, such articles being in the In this case it is necessary to subjed
form of posts, girders, plates, railway the reinforcing members, prior to the 70
sleepers, gutters, fences, panels or the setting of the concrete, to an initial ten-
like. sion such that after distributing this ten-
It is known that aIter setting and the sion over the ooncrete, once .setting and
20 first hardening which follows setting has hardening have taken place and note has
taken place, the roncrete contracts suh~ been made of the drop in tension due to 75
stantially, and under the actj,on of this contraction of the concrete, losses of ten-
.' contraction is put under tension whilst the sion due to the elastic contraction of the
25 reinforcing mmr:bers are compressed. concrete under compression forces tl'ans-
This may have the 1'(:'sult of creating fis- mitted by the reinforcing members, and
sures in the concrete members, these being losses of tension which may be due to
called" contraction fissures ", which may other causes, the metal still retains a 80
lead to premature fracture qf the articles. residual tension sufficient to transmit to
To avoid these contraction fissures it the concrete compression forces of a per~
3() has already been proposed to subject tho manent and certain nature and distributed
reinforcing members to a preliminary in accordance with a predetermined plan
tension which effects longitudinal expan- according to the nature of the service 85
sion of these reinforcing member·s which which the article in ql1estion is to carry
is adapted, when the said reinforcing out.
35 members are released, to compensate for It has already been proposed to form
the shortening of the concrete due to CDnCl'ete poles, beams and the like having 90
contraction. reinforcing bars and wires, which are ten-
Apart from this drawback as to con- ·sioned below their elastic limit, this ten-
traction, the reinforced concrete in actual sion being utilised to compress the con-
40 practice has a further drawback which i!'l crete after the concrete has set, but. om
as follmvs: invention isdistinguislled in that a high 95
1Vhen the degree o£ tension imposed 011 tensile steel, strained substant.ially beyonrl
the concrete is .substantial, the deform~· the elastic limit of steel as normally used
tion of the reinforced concrete is differen t in reinforced concrete, is used.
li5 from that of the reinforcing members rrhe process which forms the subject or
alone, and either the concrete is plastic- the present invention assumes that know- lOt)
ally expanded under constant tension, or ledge has been obtained in advance by
else it becomes fissured. The result is theDreticul calculations 01' 1)y empirical
that the distribution of' the forces or con- Olles as to the most dangerous strains to
50 straint in ordinary systems of reinf.orced which the article \vill be subjected in use,
concrete is much less favourable than in and the tension necessary in the reinforc- 105
a member which has th';) iug members to set up' in the concrete
 2 338,864
forces acting in a direction contrary to
that of those dangerous forces, as well as
the different falls in tension which may
Le caused in the reinforcing members by
5 the causes which have just been
en umera ted.
The process consists in subjecting the
reinforcing members to an initial tension
equal to the sum of the falls in tension
10 and to the permanent tension necessary to
set up stresses in the concrete.
Naturally, the tensions to be set up in
the reinforcing members may be
tlxtremely high and may reach arid even
i5 exceed the elastic limits of the metal, and
it will therefore be necessary to employ
for the reinforcing members metals of very
high resistance, of which one could at
need artificially increase the elastic limit
20 by drawing 01'· wire drawing. To obtain
these initial tensions it will be necessary
to employ powerful mechanical means,
such as hydraulic jacks or similar
devices.
25 Finally, it is necessary to provide on
the reinforcing members means to pre-
vent their setting relatively to the con-
crete when the tension-applying device,,;
are released, these means comprising, for
30 example, Jevices for anchoring the rein.
forcing memibers in the concrete. In
eel'tain exceptional cases the mere adher-
ence of the reinforcing members to the
concrete might be relied on.
35 One form of construction of the inven-
tion is illustrated by way of example in
the annexed drawings, in which:-
Fig. 1 shows the invention as applied to
a mould £01' a block in the shape of it
~o parallelopiped, this view being a longi-
tudinal vertical section.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line
2-2 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 i8 a longitudinal transverse se('·
45 tion, showing the moulding of aligned
conical or pyramidal blocks.
Figs. 4a and 4b are ve,rtical transverse
sections of Fig. :i, taken on the line 4-4
and corre:>ponding respectively to mem-
pO hers in the form of pyramids and cones.
Fig. 5 illustrates the moulding in a
line of a plurality of lon~itudinal mem-
. bel'S in a single mould.
Fig. 6 shows a method of keying an
UJ anrhol'ing device to a reinforcing
member.
Fig. "{ is a vertical longitudinal section
()£ a cylinder adapted for the centrifugal
moulding of pipes.
CO Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of
Fig.l.
To carry out the process there is
employed a tensioning de,ice for the r£·in-
forcing- members, which device may hear
g:; ag'ainst the mould or be intc:'!!;Ial with it
or be independent of it and of the devices
for anchoring the reinforcing member in
the concrete,
The shape {If the mould merely depend"!
upon the shape of the article to he pro- 70'
dueed and the tensioning deviee employed,
so that if the said tensioning device bear:.;
against the mould the latter provides the
necessary resi'.ltance.
The device adapted to impart the 75 :
initial tension to the reinforcing member
before casting may be of any desire!l
nature; it is only necessary that it should
be capable of producing the required ten~
sioning force. For example, an hydraulie so.
or other jack might be employed, or a nut
and bolt device (the bolt being inde-
pendent or not of the reinforcing' member
to he stretched), or a system {)I levers,
·winches, cams, wedges 01' the like. 86
Use could further be made of the linear
expansion of the metal by heating it to a
suitable temperature, by means of an
electric current for example; the tension
\vill then be imparted to the metal auto- go.
matically when cooling' takes place if the
ends of the reinforcing members are suit-
ably dampeu during the period of
heating.
If the bearing surface is formed by th,~ 95-
mould, a plate or member for closing' the
t'mds of the mould could, for exampfe, be
utilized for this purpose, the tensioning'
devices being mounted ()u the plate or
closing member. i()()
If the bearing' surface is independent ;1
VI
fif tlH:I iilDUld, fixed anchorage points
could, for example, be el1lployed, these I
anchorage points carrying' the tensioJ1in!,l'
de\·ices, between whi.ch ~!le mouhls would fO~ ,
be plaep(I. as ShC>WIl 1Il 1< 19'5. 1 unfi 2. Jr.
these Figs. a and b are the side walls of
the mould and a is the bottom plate, the
mould heingo tra,veI'~ed by the l'E'inforciug-
members 1 and 2, which have anchoring' HO
devicps 0, 4, 5 and G, and whieh are sub-
jected t{) tension by a suitable device
(v"]li('h would be on the right of the Fig.
Inn. which is not slle"VI"il), the said rein-
forcing memhers being held in this state H5-
of tension between two hE'aring blocks A
and B by means. for example, of nuts;
two dynamometers d l d~ are provided .
The bearing surface might, for example,
be independent of the mould and in the 1?O
form of concrete members prE'pared hi
arlvance and arranged inside or {)utside the
mould to absorb the forcE'S applied dming·
the manufacture. These members would
be surrounded by concrete, which is then 125
pourE'rl into the mould or the 111embeI'~
could Le recovE'red alter use. Thev eould
also be arranged in the interior' of the
mould when ho]]oW" ::>rtir-jo.;;. either tuhuhl'
<Jr not, arE' to he llIandndnrefl, 01' they iSG
('ould he arranged ext"Tnully of th(~
hydraulie jaeks.
 338,864
The anchoring devices should permit or
the transmission of the tensional forces in
the metal to the concrete aIter it has set
50 that it is compressed.
5 For enmple, each metal rod could be
located in a member of which the surface
bearing on the concrete is of suitable
dimensions, and which would be made
integral with the rod either by welding,
10 or by means of a serew-thread, 01' by
means of a key (.Fig. 6 shews the rein
torcing member 10 connected to the
anchorage device 11 through the medium
of a tapering key 12), or by means of
~5 wedges, or by anv other suitable device.
A concrete header could be utilised as ft
bearing- surface, this header being previ-
ously brought into contact with the rein-
forcing member or permanently connected
20 to it. 'fhe bearing surfaces described
above need not be limited to a single rod,
but could serve to group together all or
part of the reinforcing members under
tension.
25 It has been found by the present appli-
cants that all mechanical anchorage
devices could be eliminated and reliance
merely be placed upon the dired;
anchorage in the concrete which results
30 from ,setting and hardening, which will
result in the fixation ,of the reinforcing
member und;)r tension in its position by
the adherence of the concrete when the
lllitial tension has been eliminated. In
35 this case the anchorage would only 'be
perfect at a certain distance from th~
ends, which is of no importance in the
majority or cases. Known dev~ces, in the
form of hooks. clamps or the hke, could
40 be additionally employed to reinforce the
direct anchorage. 'rite end or a rod under
tension or of a group of rod,s could also
be sUl'l'ounded by hoops of concrete for
the purpose of reinforcing the anchorage
45 described above, these devices being inter-
conner-ted if required.
In the process according to this inven-
tion, it is to be no'ti3d that as the
concrete is subjected to an initial COT,.l-
50 pres~ion beford being subjected to any
load, it is desirable to employ concrete
which has a high resistance to compres-
sion and consequently to employ any pro-
cess adapted to produee this result, either
55 singly or in combination, as follows :-
::1) composition of the most suitable
granular Iorm,
b) vibration to eUSUI'a complete filling
of the mould,
£0 c) centrifugal process producing the
same results and in general any methorl
which, during the filling of the moulds.
would rau!'<e variations of inertia in th'l
t'l.ements rOll'stiiTting the ('OllCl'ete.
1)5 cl) a lmo,Y;1 proee~s of hooping' the con-
crete which would increase its resistance
to compression.
It is; to be understood that the sug-
getlted methods could be combined with
the employment of reinforcing members 70
not under tension and the further employ~
ment of straps in known manner.
One method of carrying out the inven-
tion consists in manufacturing several
articles simultaneously and arranged in 76
line end to end, as shewn in 1!'igs. 3 and
5. Each length -of the reinforcing mem-
,bel' under tension is in this caSe formed
by a continuous metal rod stretched at
its end by a tensioning device which is 8(}.
thus common to several moulds. After
the moulds have been filled and the con-
crete hardened the rods are cut between
each successive mould, and a correspond-
ing number of separate articles is thus 85
obtained, it being understood that the
necessary anchorage device, if any, had
previously bel?n put in place at each end
of each successive mould.
When conical or wedged shaped posts 90-
are to be produced, the reinforcing mem-
bers of several consecutive posts are first
of all subjected to tension, the reinforc-
ing members are then held at the
nal'l'OWest part against a member which at 95
the sama time forms an abutment for the
mould (Cl, ez, -e3), the straps, the anchor-
ing devices and, if any, the supplementary
l'einfol'elng members are placed in pOS1-
tion, and the sides of the mould being in 100
place, the concrete is poured in and pre-
ferably vibrated. After hardening ha:!
taken place the reinforcing members are
cut at each end of each post; the articles
could equally well be manufactured in all i05
end to end manner iby means of the pro-
cess without dividing the mould into com-
partments as if a single article of con-
siderable length were to be produced, and
the concrete and the metal would be sawn HO
or divided into sections at the requirecl
places, the sections being formed' as she'wn
at 13-13 or 14-14 in Fig. 5.
In the case of centrifugal production,
the pr;)cess comprising preliminary ten- ii5
sioning of th? reinfOl'ciIlg' uemberfl has a
particlllar advantage because it eliminates
the disadvantages which arise from the
lack of homogeneity of the concrete and
also eliminates cracks which are usuall v i2a.
pr-oducell and which are probably due t'()
unequal shrinkage of the internal anri
c:xte1'llal parts. ·of the articles.
Pigs. i alld 8 shew one form 01 thill
method ,01 !nanufaeture; VI V 2 V3 V. are ~25
hyul'aulw Jacks adaptea to apply tension
to the reilllOl'ein;(' 1J1pmb0rs 17 18, 19 and
'J(l.
- '1"jH-' !',\' I'llH1·'cr C ('an l'obb' In
. !mrnnl
Ill,Ullll' 1'.
'1'0 pl,'n-'lt tll, tellsiolled Jein£ol'eing' 130
 338,864
members frum being' visible at the ends
of the articles, they could be lodged in
suitable bmings which can then be filled
with concrete <lr protective material.
5 It should be noted that the process
described produces products having
entirely new properties in that the com-
pression of the concrete and the tension-
ing of the reinforcing members of steel
iO can be cOIl1.1lined in such a manner that
the concrete, which is never stretched be-
yond given limits, is not liable to have
fissures when subjected to l{)ad.
in the case of a post in particular it is
i5 also possible to obtain with symmetrical
reinforcing members an article which can
serve under all circumstances in the same
way as a wooden post without any dis-
advantage.
20 To obtain the maximum amount of
economy from tue process it is desirable
to employ concrete having a high lesist-
ance to compres-sion, and stael of high
resistance and a high limit of elasticity,
25 Also the advantages of-the process can be
increased by surrounding the reinfoTcinj!
members under tension by a thin spIral
thread rolled around them, and by employ-
ing steel reinforcing members with a limit
30 of elasticity which has been artificially
increased by drawing or wire-drawing.
The regulation of the tension can be
carriec1 out in any suitable mahner. In
any case the employment ()f hydraulic
35 jacks automatically regulated by the pres-
sure employed, ,or dynamometers, or of
€.xpansiou by heat will ensure great
accuracy in the exact determination of the
injtial tension employed. The use of
40 jacks or dynamometers might be limited
to the application of tension, a locking
device such as a key permitting the ten-
sioning device w be put out of action
immediately. This arrangement should
45 be preferably employed if the tension is
applied by expansion due to heat.
Having ,now pllrticularly described an (1
ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is t{)
50 be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A process of manufacture ()f rein-
forced concrete articles, characterised in
that reinforcing members of high tensile
55 steel are distributed in the concrete and
are ,subjected to an initial tension sub·
stantially greater than the elastic limit of
steel as normally used in reinforced con-
crete, whereby after all shrinking of the
60 concrete due to setting and hardening has
taken place, the concrete remains under
permanent compressive and the reinforc-
ing members under permanent tensile
:-.tresses.
65 Z. A proceS3 !lccording to Claim 1, in
which forces for tensioning tne' reinforc--
ing members are combined with the mould
and with devices for anchoring' the rein-
forcing members in the concrete.
3. In a process according to Claim 1, 'le)
the use or not of hydraulic jacks, of nuts
and bolts, {)I levers, cams or wedges, of
winches, or ()f expansion of the metal by
heat, to obtain the initial tension.
4. A process according w Claim lr in 75- :
which the application of the tension and
the precise regulation of the initial teDsion
is e:f!ected by the regulation of the p1!'es-
sure of an hydraulic jack or by the read-
ings Qf a dynarrwmeter or by expansion at
combined Or not with a locking device
which permits of the release of the ten-
sioning means._
5. In '1 process according to Claim 1,
the employment as a bearing surface, 85
when the tension is to be applied, of the
mould itself, or of an anchoring deVIce
external to the mould.
6. In a process accordiilg t() claim 1
the employment of anchoring devices to 90
transmit the -tensional forces of the metal
to the concrete, after setting of the latter,
by compression of the concrete, these
anchoring devices being ill the form of
a member welded, screwed, keyed or 950
wedged to the rod under tension, or a
header of concrete already set and
rendered integral with the rod by any
known means, 01' directly in the concrete
()wing to the setting and hardening of the 100 ;!I',
latter, with or without supplementary
devices in the form of hooks, claws or the
like, and with or without hoops to rein-
force the said anchoring device. ~
7. In a process according to claim 1 the 1()5,
employment of concrete which is vibrated
or sl.l'bjected t-o centrifugal action, 01'
strengthened with hoops, either separately
or in combination, to increase the resist~
ance of the concrete to compression. ~i(»
8. In a process ar.cording to claim 1.
the use of reinforcing members, either
under tension 01' not ill. combinati{)n with
reinforcing members under tension.
9. In a process according to claim 1 u'5
the use of _continuous lengths of a rein-
forcing member to reinforce a plurality of
articles arranged end to end consecntively
in moulds, each of these lengths being
subjected to tension by OM single tension- i2()
ing device, whilst the metal is only
divided into sections after setting and
hardening to separate the various articles
thus simultaneously reinforced and manu-
factured. :1.25-
10. In the application of the process
according to claim 1 to the production of
wedge-shaped articles the employment of
gripping members to bring the reinIorc-
ing membe~'s to the desil'ad positions. 13()
 338,864 6

11. A process according :to claim 1, in
\rhich continuous lengths of reinforcing
members are employed and in which a
single artic.le .of considerable len(5th is
ts produced without break of contllluity,
the concrete and the metal being cut or
divided into sections at the desired
locality.
12. In a process according to Claim 1
'!i'10 the employment of centrifugal moulds.
13. In a process according to Claim 1
the recessing of the ends of the reinforc-
ing members relatively to the concrete
and filling or the housings provided £01'
Redhill: Printed for His Majesty's StAtionery Office. by Love & M...lnomson, Ltd.-1080
this purpose with concrete or other protec- 15
tive material.
14. In a process according to Claim 1
the use Or a metal, of which the elastic
limit is artificially increased by pre-
liminary drawing or wire-drawing. 2()
15. Articles manufactured in accord-
ance with a process according to Claim 1.
Dated this 18th day of June, 1929.
AB EL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants,
30 Southampton Buildings, London,
W.C.2.
[This Drawing is a reproduction 01 the Original On ~ reduced scale]

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 338.864 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION J SHEET

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(
PAtfENT SPECIFICATION
Oonvention Date (France): Nov. 79, 7928.
Applioation Date (in United Kingdom): July 25, 1929, No. 22,898/29:,
(Patent ot Addition to No. 888,864.
Complete Aocepted: Nov. 26, 1930.
COMPLETE SPEOIFICATION.
Process for '~lle lVll1Jnul8'Jcture oE ReiI(Jd1orced Concrew.
We, EUGENE FIiEYSSlNET, 11 French
Citizen, ·of 28, rue Saint J ames, Nemlly-
sUT-Seine (Sdne), France, and JEAN
SEAU_LES,' a French. Oitizen, of 280, DauIe-
l) vard Raspail, P,al'ls, France, do hereby
declare the nature or this invention and
in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following state-
1.0 ment:-
Concrete has a high resistance to com-
pression which can ibe considerably in-
creased by the applic'.ltian of recent dis-
coveries in the dome.in of the manulaciure
i5 of cements and concretes, and a consider-
ably smaller resistance to tension, the
latter being scarcely Ij12th of the
rormer.
In any concrete structure, the existiilg
20 forces c~.use tensioning forces l.vhich are
usually of the same order ,as the fOTces or
compression.
These tensioning' forces cause frachiI'e
of the COllerete by tensile struin long
25 bel ore its I'esistance to compression has
been completely utilised.
To avoid this draviback
members, called rrimal'yones, ale
employed to absorb the tension fOT(,(>S
30 which are parallel to the axis of the article
in question, whilst so·,called secondary
reinforcing members are employed to
absol'b the tension forces wllicll are not
parallel to thi" Hnd which normally
35 result ill owing: to shearing: or
torsional 10rces.
'rhe reinrorcing members employed in
known systems to reinforce concrete only
accomplish the task very incompletely for
40 three mail·. reas)ns.
In the first, place, these reinrm'cing
memhers which arc inboduced into the
concrete to absol~b certain forces contr.ul'Y
to the end desired and owing to the shrink-
65 ing· or the concrete, set up important
internal forces; actually the concrete in
!:ontracting is put under tension and com-
presses the reinforcing membe.rs.
These internal IorcesoIten cause break-
50 .age or the concrete '01' so-called contraction
fissures. and in any case they definitely
prevent the possibility
. . of relying on the
~l~8 11 934
Oonvention Date (France): Dot. 2,7928,)
resistance of the concrete to tension in .a
certain manner, either as regards the
primary 01' the secondary Iorces. 55
In the second place, and even apart
from any force of contraction, when the
concrete is substantially elongated it is
fractured. 'fhe principal rE-sult ot this is
that steels of high l'esist.ance and capable. 60
of considerable extension cannot be
utilised in reinforcing concrete.
In the main specification, whilst taking
into account the fact previously described,
it was. specified that high tensile steel 65
reinforcing members in the concrete
articles .are subjected to an initial tension
before setting and hardening took place, in
such manne!' that in th3 reinforced con-
crete finally obtained the metal was 70
already under tension an d the concrete
under compression to a considerable de-
gree, independently of any forces due to
the load and excess load.
According to this invention, ,ve m.ake '161
general this method or the application in
the finished article of permanent artificial
tensional to the metal, and per-
m~ment artificial compression constraint
to the concrete, which constraints 00n 80 Q
stitute a system of internal forces in the
articles treated, having no reslllianh force
nor exterior reaction and capable of act-
ing' in one. tw;) or three directions.
The reinforcing members may be put 85
under tension not only prior t·o setting and
hardening but also during or alter this.
This method of heatmenl results in
imparting to articles which have been sub-
jected to it entirely new important and ~o
surprising properties which are as
follows:
1) According to the present invention,
the nature or the internally applied forces
-that is concrete in tension and steel in 95
compression-which renders the concrete
fragile by putting it in a state of equili-
brium near the breakage point is reversed.
The resistance of the concrete to tension
the?- becomes a J?ositive quality UP)1l 100
whICh absolute rehance can be placed· . .
:upture no longer being able to occur, a~
In the case of all the elements· generally
used in construction when, the forces o~
 rupture being exceeded, this occurs under considerable resistance against shearing,
the actioQ of external forces. In the and thus renders the transverse or
case or articles thus treated the resistance seoondary aI'matures unnecess.a~y, o~'.per­
of the concrete to ·tension can rightly be mits them to be c()nsiderably sImplIfied.
5 included in the resistance forcel>, provided The experiments of the applicants as 70
, that the deformation of the stretched con- regards torsion in hollow unreinforced
crete does not exceed the li.'1lits which ex- cylinders have proved that the. resistance
perience has indic.ated. to fracture due to tension resulting from
2) It is possible to employ steels of shearing forces reaches 20 kgs. for a cer-
10 very high resistance up to their elastic tain kind of concrete. The presence of ,75
limit. It is easy to obtain steels ha'ving longitudinal reinforcing members by -
or
an elastic limit 160 kgs., that is wire- creating ten3ional furces due to C(lntrac-
drawn rods, instead of 24 kgs. which is tion lowers this figure by at least 5 kgs.
the ordinary figl.<re, and this limit might A.ninitiaL cpmpl'ession of 100 kgs. per
t5 be extended even further. square centimetre acting on the axis of 80
3) The concrete being previously com-, the cylinders raises it by 50, a figure
'Pressed, the articles when subjected to which renders possible a. strain of 15 kgs.
!bending act as homogeneous article& as per square centimetre, or substantially so,
long as the bending force does not exceed without the use of transverse reinforcing
20 the initial compression imparte9. to the members. 85
ooncrete and increased by the re.sistance In cases where shearing accompanies
"- of the latter to tension. :bending it should be noted that the rate
, The result of this is that in spite of the of maximum displacement only exists
initial compression the total compressive opposite the neutral material in the case
25 force, which includes initial compression of an article treated in accordance with 90
c and compression due to bending, is in cer- this invention, and decreases very rapidly
- tain cases considerably lower than the both in the zone affected and in the zone
force of compression due to bending alone, of compression, whilst in the case of an
which would be existent in an identical article reinforced by known means and
80 article not treated in this manner. ' showing fissures .it only decr:eas~s in th.e 95 ;."
Figs. 1-12 of the accompanying draw~ rone of compreSSlOn and retams Its maXi-
ings illustrate. the invention. mum value !between the neutral material
.Moreover, the compressive forces set up and the reinforcing- members. This is one
in accordance with this invention need of the advantages of the present inven- ~
30 also not be uniform. In .the case or a T tion. The amount of slipping of the 1'e- iOQ
beam (Figs. 1 and 2) having a group of inforcing members involves ,1 similnr
. primary reinforcing members A, and a advantage, the displacement value (£ the
further group of primary reinforcing reinforcing members in articles treated
l:r.l.:.embers B, the reinforcing members A by the present process making allowance
40 and B could be handled in 811Ch a manner for the anchorage forces, giving rise to lOO
that the C(lncrete is initially strongly figures very much lower than those which .
. compressed in the zone near B and result in the case of an article not so
stretched in the zone near A. The design treated.
of such an article allowing for existing A.nother advantage derived from the
45 internal forces is of considerable advan- pr,esent invention is that owing to the HO
,. tage as regards the compressive limits compression of the concrete very superior
~ reached at a given moment, and increases and remarkable water-tight properties .1.re
the resistance or the article t-o rupture by obtained in many cases either !rom the
bending; experience has confirmed the point of view of the life .of the
50 e:;pectations of the paper calculations. . installation or from the point of it5
4) In any concrete article reinforced by view of its utilisation. In addi~
'known processes and sl1!bjected to a simple tion to these main advantages there is also
shearing force, tensions caused even by the ability to utilil'Je in the normal manner
the existence of the shearing f.orce deve.lop the high resistance to compression of
55 and cause fracture of the article. modem concretes, and more particularly i2Q
Also the presence of tensional forces due concretes which have been subjected to
to contraction or be.nding which are added vibration or centrifugal force, because ~n
to the tensions caused by shearing render the case of a reinforced concrete in accord-
the resistance of the concrete to shearing ance with the present invention the initial
60 pI'actically nil or at least very small. and cO,mpression can be increased within the i25.
render the presence'Qf seoondary shearing limits allowed by this high resistance, and
. reinforcing members absolutely neCe~8al'y, the advantages of the process are accord~
while the existence of internal compression ingly increased. '
in the concrete. in accordance with the The means adapted to impart the initial
(to invention imparts to it a definite and tension to the reinforcing memlbers may ~
 338,934 3

be of any suitable kind; it is only neces~ the mould, which are not shown jn Fig. 6
1ll3.ry to permit of the pr,oduction of the of the drawings, abut.
necessary tensional forces. For e.xample, The reinforcing membel's might consist
an hydraulic or other jack might be of closed rings, soldered ,or Lound.ed to-
};) employed, or a nut and bolt device, the gether, and in "this case the. header would .70
screw-threaded member being independent advantageously be in the form of a hollow
or not of the reinforcing member to be roller. rrhe reinforcing members could
subjected to tension, or a system of then Ib e simply passed oyer the roller,
levers, winche.s, cams, wedges or the like. which would serve to apply the tension.
10 Use might even be made or the torsion A contimwus spiral roller, us seen in Fig.
on itself of .a rod already held in posi- 7 could be used with an anchoring device.
,5
tion, or the mutual torsi-on of several rods 'In the case of an article of variable
already anchored in position. The same stress approximating to a solid ot equal
result could be obtained by dividing a resistance, those of the reinforcing mem-
i5 plurality of bal's 33, which were originally bers which need not be continuous oyer 80
parallel to one another, and uniting them the whole article might be in the form
by junction members 34 so that they form of anchorages at desired parts of the frame,
broken lines as shown in Fig. 3. and tension ,applied at another part of
Use might also be made, by the linear the mould. A suitable device would in
20 expansion, of the metal by heating it to this case consist in securing the reinforc- 85
& suitable temperature, by means of an ing' member to metal washers 41 mounted
~lectric current £'01' example. on shafts 42 which are preferably slightly
In one construction the constructional conical and are themselves mounted in
parts already existing can be utilised as an the wall of the mould 43 (Fig. 8). The 90
25 attachment point for the, tensioning washers will then serve as members for
devices. A bearing surface independent distributing pressure on the concrete after
of the mould or of the £rame might, for the two axles have been removed at the
example, form part of concrete elements time of removal from the mould.
previously manufactured, and which could It has been found by the inventors that
30 be thrown away or used again. Jacks all mechanical anchoring devices can be 95
4 might be located in the interior of the eliminated Ih.Y the mere direct anchoring
articles, or on the exterior in the case in the concrete, which is the result of
of the production of hollow bodies setting and hardening, which by the mere
In the case of a beam this might be adherence of the concrete will hold in
35 channel shaped, as shown at 35, Fig. 4, place a reinforcing member under tension ~.QQ
and the jack 36 housed in the hollow por~ when the initial tension Ot manufacture
'lion of the beam and the latter strengthened has been eliminated, this result being due
with bars 37 placed under tension Iby any to creeping of the metal in the concrete
me.ans whatever to avoid buckling of the due to its expansion ,and contraction in ":I;nt!.
40 beam. the zone near its ends. -~
Each metal rod could be caused to Anchorage can be improved by the
engage a member., of which the surface empl,oyment of known devices in the form
that bears on the concrete is suitably of hooks, claws and the like. The end of
designed, and which can be rendered a rod uuder tension or of a group of rods no
45 integral with the rod either by welding or could be surrounded by a suitable band or" -
a screw-thread or key, or in any other suit- concrete to prevent creeping of these
able device. devices. Or means c,ould naturallv be
A concrete header could also be combined together or assocjated. "
employed as an anchoring device, this In certain cases, a triple constraint is
50 header being also connected to the rein- advisable in order to impart compression 115
forcing member or rendered. solid with it. to the concrete in all directi{)ns.
The he.ader could obviously be employed For this purpose various processes could
as a connecting piece for one reinforcing naturally be emp10yed; for example:
member or a plurality of them. Bands or stirrups could ba arranCl'ed 120
55 For example, if it is desired to produce around the longitudinal reinforcing m~m-" -
articles with symmetrical reinf{)rcing Iber under tension. At the moment whea
members, use. could be made or ,a rein- the tension {)f the reinforcing members is
forcing member anchored to two concrete to be applied to the concrete the resuitinCl'
headers 39 (Fig. 5), and tensioning could compression would. bri~g about. creeping t~
60 be effected by acting on the two headers 10£ t~e concrete, whICh In turn wIll impart ---"
which could form abutments for the tenSIOn to the hands or stirrups.
mould. A perforation 40 could be formed This latter process could further be
in the header surrace enabling tension to e~ployed to impart tension in one direc-
be applied through the medium of a re- tIOn ,only. F'or exa~ple, in a machine,~~
65 movable ,axle, on which two surfaces of such as that shown III Fig. 9, the (lOn..
 338,934
crete member adapted to serve as a rail-
way sleeper could be introduced. rrhis
article is reinforced with longitudinall'ods
, 44, and it is hollowed {)ut axially Into
'5 this hollow portion a rubber pouch 45 is
inserted, to ,..hi ch pouch a high preSSllre
of the nature of 1000 kgs. per sqUl:U8
centimetre for example, can be imparted,
whilst a similar pressure is applied to an
iO external rubber pouch 46. The pressure
{)n the upper piston 47 is, on the (lther
hand, progressively diminished: in these
conditions the concrete is plastically de-
formed longitudinally within a limit
i5 which c.an ba regulated. The transverse
deformation is then obtained by reducing
the pressure in the external pOllen. The
deformations obtained are permanent and
have the consequence that all the l'ein-
20 forcing members are subjected to tension
with consequential compression '0£ the con-
crete' in all directions.
The manufacture of reinforced concrete
in conformity with the present process
25 starting with concrete already manufac-
tured without reinforcing members (or
comprising' reinforcing members corre-
sponding to other conditions than those
aimed at by the present invention) is or.
:30 c.onsiderable importance because the posi-
tioning' oy the artrcle a£ ter the reinforcing
member has be.en placed under tension in
ar::cordance with the present. invt:lnti{)ll will
often b(~ a more simple anti easier ope:w-
"35 tion th:Ul the application of tension be10re
setting and hurdening_. This method o£
carrying out the in7ention is made P0ti-
sible because as previously explained, the
secondary reinforcing members or the
4:0 struts can be. eliminated, the reinforced
concrete in conformity v,'ith the present
invention having itself properties or
resistance to shearing w1ioh are only
acquired by concrete reinforced in Hle
45 ordinary way by. the. use o~ the said
secondary reinforcmg members III the con-
crete.
For example, a post could be manu-
factured by leaving housings for the metal
50 either in grooves or in pipes.
After thEl metal, in the form or bars
or cables for example, has been placed in
position and subjected to tension, the
grooves or pipes c{)uld be filled with
ID cement or protective material such as
asphalt.
Th~ post could then be in the form or a
hollow non-reinforced member and tension
_ applied by a· bar of metal placed on the
60 axis and putting the concrete in a state of
compression by means for example of two
plates which ,apply the pressure to the
two ends of the hollow member.
In the case o(grooves (Figs. 10 and 11)
,65 the. reinforcing memoer might for example
be in the form Qf two metal rings 47 .and
48 'placed in position when heated, two.
opposite g1100ves being c<?nnec.ted at their
apices and bases by a J1.111ctlOn member
forming an arch and '\vhic.:h might in uchli- 'i0
tion comprise a metal bearing surface.
In the. case of pipes (Fig. 12) it is
simple to insert and .apply tenSi(lll 1.0 each
steel rod in its tube and to transmit the
pressure in the concrete to a suitable bear- 75
ing member.
The reinforcing member!; can in addi-
tionequally well be pla~ed in posit~on
during manufacture y,-hllst pl'e\entmg
them from adhering to the concerete by 80
any suitable me.an:; la covering of paper)
paraffin (lr the like). After setting',
hardening. and withdrawal of the concrete
tension is applied to the reinforcing mem-
bers which will be in position but under 85
restraint.
In one construction, articles not rein-
forced or provided with special reinforce-
ments might even be employed and sup-
plied in accordance ',vith the im-ention 90
with reinforcing members which, owing
to the.ir tension, will induce a state Q£
permanent cOlllpresaion in the concrete.
For example, a receptacle v,-ould con-
sist of a cylindrical structure either not 95
l'einforced or only slightly so ; on the outer
wall of this will be uni-lnge.d bv me~UlS
descrihed a band under ten:;ion ~~-hich is
protected with a coating' of cement.
When reinforced concrete is proG.ttc6d 100
aecording to the present proCESS starling
from COlicrete already mairuIf:dul'ed \',-ich·
out reinforcing melubers (01' cOPl)1!'ising
l'einfol'ci.ng illE:lllbei& CQi rE'5TJtmdi llg (0
other sil'uctures than tl:ose (;jmed .at by 105
the pre.sent invention), it is possible to
ptochfce- a whole by nieulls of ele-
ments arranged ill a suitable manner rela-
tively to {lue anothel' and plac<:!d under
compression by reinforcing members under HO
tension "hich render the said elements
integral with one another and gi-;-c them
the properties pI'eviously described. In
this ease no usa is made of the l'esis"b:mce
of the concrete to tension, but the other ii5
properties indicated are retajned (the
utilisation of the metal to its elastic limit
and the use of its residance to shearing
which ~ created bv compression). '
For examule, a po;t could be construct.ed 12$1
which is ea7sily transportahle in sections
by means o()£ segments arnmged end to end
for mounting and connected together by
metal ties which compress them one
against the other. i2\>..
W~th the process which has just been
descnbed there could also be combined the
use of reinforcing members not under
tension and of complementary struts· to
increase if necessary the advant~ges 130
 338~_934

,obtained from this invention, any known eleme.nts which are welded, screwed, keyed
pl'OCe~8 which enables concrete with aQr :wedged. to..the .rod under tension, or
maximum resistance to compression to be' in the form of a'concrete h-eader which
o.btainerl can be employed (gr,anular treat- does or does not serve for the applic,ation
5 ment, vibration, centrifugal action, hoop- of tension and is l'endel'ed integral with 70
ing', etc.). the stretched reinforcing member by the
It is to hi! Jjoted that compression {)f p!()cesses described (simple anchorage,
the ~oncI'ete and tensioning .0£ the rein- fitting into rings, rolling in plain or in
forcing' membe1'l.l can be combined in such counter spii'aIs etc-) or by the direct
10 manner th.at the concrete is never under a anchorage resulting from the setting and 75
tensioning' load beyond a given limit, and hardening of the concrete itself with or
this will result in articles which will not without supplementary devices in the form
develop cracks under prevailing' condi- of hooks, claws or the like, and with or
tions. without a hooping member adapted to rein_
i5 Having now particularly described and force the said direct anchorage. 80
ascertained the nature of our said inven- 7. In a process according to Claims 1
tion and in what manner the same is to and 2, the use of reinf{)I'cing members sub-
be performed, we declare that what we jected to tension afterwards on or in the
claim is:- articles, elements or parts of the concrete
20 1. A modification of or improvement in device previously produced without a re- 85
the process described in Specification No. inforcing member (01' with reinforcing
18,711 of 1929 (Serial No. 338,864), in members confor.ning to requirements
which high tensile steel reinforcing mem- other th.an those to which the present
bel'S, subjected to an initial tension sub- invention is applicable), these reinforcing
25 stantially greater than that normally used members being introduced during manu- 90
for reinforcing concrete, are employed in faQture, but being in this case protected
the manufacture of l'einforced concrete ag'ainst the ,adherence of the. concrete
structures. which permits tension to be applied to
2. A process for the manufacture of them afterwards as described.
30 reinforced concrete structures according to 8. In the appHcatio:n of the invention 95
Claim 1, characterised in that the rein- to the process covere.d by Claims 1 and 2,
forcing members are subjected to tension the transformation into a single whole of
not only before. setting and hardening, but sep.arate elementary members joined
also during' -or after setting. together and adapted to resist sheiaring
35 3. A process according to Claims 1 and owing to the fact that they are in a state 100
2, in which a fmme or moulcl is com- {)f compression lby means of reinforcing
:bined with a device for applying tension members under tension as described.
to the reinforcing members and a device 9. A process according to Claims 1 and
101' anchoring these members in the con- 2, in which the. metal rings temporarily
40 crete. fixed to desired points by means of mOT- 105
4. A process according to Claims 1 and able axles serVG as ',anchorages.
2, in which tension is applied by means 10. A process according to Claims 1 and
of jacks which are hydraulic or not, of 2, in which the concretes employed are
45 screws, or l?vers, of winches or cams or subjected to vibration 01' centrifugal force,
wedges. or by means of the torsion of the or are provided with hoops to increase UO
metal or by means of its expansion owing their resistance to compression either col-
to heat. ' lectivelyor separately.
5. A process according to Claims 1 and 11. A process according to Claims 1
2, in which the bearing surface at which and 2-. in which reinforcing members
50 tension is applied to the metal is the mould which are not subjected to tension and H5
or exte.rnal anchor.age or compressed meril- strut members oonnected to them ,are
bel'S arranged in the mould or outside it employed with the rein:forcing memhers
and adapted to be used only once 01' to be which are subjected to tension in accord-
55 recovered, or ~s a concrete article itseH ance with the invention.
previously manufactured and subjected 1'2. A proce'lS according to Claims 1 and 1::0
to compression by the reinforcing members 2, in which the steel employed has a. hig>h
connected together .and placed under ten- e~asticity artificially inC'reased by pi'e-
sion, these reinforcing members them- VlOUS drawing or wire-drawing.
60 selves being', if desired, encased in con- 13. A proce.1S according- to Claims 1-
crete or protective material. 12, in which the concrete is subjected to 125
6. A nrocess according to Claims 1 amI compression in every direction llT'usin o' at
2, in which thE\ anchorage devires serve the time of manufacture reinforcinO' n~m-
to transmit the tensional force of the metal bel'S stretched in 'one direction . .aI~d l'ein-
65 to the concrete by compressing it, these forcing members or hoops which are not:
anchorage devices being in the £.orm of stretched in the other directions, the latter i3Q
6 338,934:
ibeing subjected to tension by creeping of by means of t.he plastic deformation of the
the concrete when it is put into a state of reinforced concrete. under the influence of 10
compression by the rein£orcing members varying compressi'on forces as described.
under tension. Dated this 25th day of July, 1929.
5 14. A process according to Claims 1- ABEL & IMRAY,
13, in which the compression of the con- Agents for the Applicants,
crete and the tensioning of the reinforc- 30, Southampton Buildings, London,
ing members.in one direction is effected W.O.2.
Redhill ~ Printet1. for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Love & MaIcomaon. Ltd.-l980.
338,934 C MPLETE SPECIFICATION I
1 SHEET

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'i")j~TENT SPECIFICATION
CQnrention Date (France): Sept. 8, I e29.
Application Date (in United Kingdom): Sept. 8, 7980.
(Patent of Addition to No. 338,864: dated Oct. 2, 7928.)
Complete Accepted: Jan. 4, 1932.
UO~lPLETE
Process and Apparatus for the 1'I.lanufacture of Articles of
Reinforced Concrete;.
Weo, Et;'G.k~·E JrnEYSSIXET, a French
Citizen, of :2~, Hue Saint J ames, X eui11:y-
slll'-tieille, (tieine), :France, illnd JE.:\S
tiKULLES, t\ ]Trench Citizen, of 280, Bouie-
5 yard Uaspail, Paris, France, do hereby
declare the nature of this inyention and
in wltat munner the same is to be per-
fOl'llled, to be particularly described and
aseertained in and by the following state-
lO lllent:-
'rite present invention consists in im-
pl'UYelllPnts in or modifications of the in-
vention de:;crihed in our prior Specifica-
tion X o. 338,864.
i5 III our main specification we huye
dest'rihe<l a process for the munufacture
of articles of reinforced concrete in "hich
reinforcing' members, of high tensile
steel and strained suhstantialh- lleYond
20 the elastic limit 'of steel as llormullr 'used
in reinfol'C'ed concrete, lUre subjected to
tl preliminary tension in the neighbour-
hood of their elastic lIilllit in such manner
as to h.'lllSmit to the concrete which has
25 set ancI hardened, l1ig-It and permanent
compression forces. In rel'hlin cuses,
howeyer, it is llecessary to stretch rein-
forcing members ,dJieh ure shorter than
the mould, or, speaking generally, to grip
30 the l'eillfol'eillg 'members at intermediate
points to subject them to tension.
'fhe present application has for its ob-
je("'/; deyices which permit of soh-ing this
pl'Olllem. These de,ices f:omprise 'f?ssen-
35 ,1ia1.1;\' a wedge or other gripping- 'elf?ment
.whIch trayerses the wall of the mould
through IUn opening formed at a suitable
point in .the said ,,~all and is adaptef/ to
grip the reinforring melllher, this wedo'e
. 40 Iml!lg displacealle aJlong the openillQ' l~~T
~llealJs of (In element ('npahle of «e,-plop-
lng c!0llsidel'ul1Je force. suC'h as a ~(,l'ew.
wedge or the like, and aclantecl to bear
og-ainst the w~all of the mould.
45 .It is desirallle to employ in comhination
WIth. such l} (}E'viC'e l'einforring- lnpmhers
!ll'oYHlecl wltll projertioll s wlliph Inn~' he
lIlif'g'ral or llot. ana which fncilitatp. tIle
.aptio n of tIle l'einforeing' llH'1ll her. In
rPrir.e 1/-J
364,621
No. 26,32b /30,
tiPEOIFICATION.
the main specification it lIaS been stated 50
that these projections can be applied to
the reinforcing memuers by welding,
Iwrewing', keying or wedging. .
The lllveution is jHustrated III the
annexed drawings, in which:- 55
l!'ig. 1 shows a bar formed with pro-
jections.
l!'ig', ~ shows a bar with all enlarged
eud, and
.Fig. ;3 shows a bur with ~l metal block 60
clamped to it,
'fIte use of un attached member cau be
avoided by forgIng, swaging or upset-
ting etc. the member, either in the hot or
eolct state, so as to form enlurgements 1 65
of !Ully shape on the bar 2 (Fig. 1) or to
provide an enlarged end 3 (ll'ig. 2). It
is obvious that the enlargements should
not be ,abrupt, in order to avoid the
formation of weak places in the hal' : the.Y ic'
should t,lso have the form most suitable
for applying the tension and for anchor~
ing.
A satisfaetol'Y method of anchoring by
lIlNIllS of an aHadlf.'d memller consists ill ,75
horing and damping' n pipce of metal·to
t he hal' to be tensioneod. For exump'le, a
metal bloC'1\ 4 (l"i~. :\) with n horing i) of
thediametel' of the wire to he an('hol'edc'an
he clampecl to it. hy a screw or other suit- 80'
ahle mcans. '1'he part of the wire en-
gageel hy the block can be rong'hened, (:01'-
1'1lgutf?Cl' et!', t·o increase the Ilulhereuee.
()hvj()nsl~r, tlle different nrrang-cmenhl
f'olllcl he ('ol1lhineil Us showl! for example 85
in }!'iQ·s. 4 and 5.
(t has heen fOHJlcl also that ~ convenient.
1l1'()c'e:'1S for C'arr~'ing out the illvlmtioll
c'omli;;i':-; ill using ns the almtment for the
jPllsiollillg' apparntus the same or ilimilar 90
'Hrl'UlIg'Plllents ~s for the uu(']\Oring. The
llpp1i('ntioll 0.£ ihe ten:'1ion neC'essiiatps in
faet a trnetive'foree on tlle wire of the
~ame ol'deor aR that whie'll is neecssnrv to
!;UPpOl't the an('hol'illg' appnrahls, alld ~'on- 95
~f'rtllPlln.V the anchoring' applll'ahlS ('ml
al:"o h~lllSec1 for gripping' the wire, so tJlUt
it. sCl'YPS iwo JlllrpOSf?S, first to aJlpJ~' Ihn
 2 364,621
ten~ioll and '<lftel'wul'ds the anehol'ing, or
t\Yo or more points lllay be pl'o'dded eaeh
havi.ng its own separate function, SOllie
~ernng for the applicntion of the tension
ti and other:; for the ~llchoring.
In this method, and in .all the cases
in whirl! the movement of the tension pro-
<luting deviee is limited, it is convenient
to utllise a wire or bar provided Trith
10 several points of attachment, and to re-
latoiwly :::p:lC'e these apart at a distance
less than the path {)f the tensioning mem-
her, ~he points cOll~tituting', ~\s previously
llH'utlOned, uncho1'l1lg' points.
ij The ten:;ion in the ctlse in which the
abutments are on the mould. can be con-
TenientIy applied by means of sectol'S
(memhers formed as wetlgei'l, helices 01'
('i1'('ula1' ares) whieh are displaced either
~o at right angles or pamllel to the axis of
the wire to be siretr'heel or other suitable
devices,
In thE' 3l'l'UngPlllent (reprE'sented in
•section by the - side view in Fig. ()
23 and in end "dew in Fig. 7) the
tension is applied to the bar 2 pro-
-drIed 'rith enhl1'gements 1 by means
of an arcuate member G. This member
is proyidecl with a wedge 7 gripping the
30 bar ~! h;v a fork 8 and ad.apted to he dis-
plaeed in an :aperture 9ro. provided in the
wall 9 of the 1ll0t11d (A indieates the in-
terior of the mould). The member (l i~
displaced br a push rod 10 actuated hy
35 a screw 11 rotated h:;.' ,.means of a aqual'€,
llenel 12 ~nd threaded in a nut 13 fixefl
to a ,mll 14 a hutting' ag'ainst the mould.
In a modification (Fig'. 8) the memller
];j g'l'ippinQ' the hal' Z is tensioned in 1he
40 clireetion FI hy the simultaneous clisTlhn'-
, lllent of the wedge::; 1(j and 17 in tIle direc-
tion F2, werlges ",hie11 almt against pHrts
18 and 19 pl'oyided hl the wan of the
mould. l'he pl'actic,al ponstruction of this
4:'i modification is shown in seetion in Fig'. 9
_and in plan in Fig. 10. The member 15
('onsists of :a hal' cQrrving at one enel a
f()l'k whir11 grips the bu'1' 2:.and tlw wed!!eR
Hi and 17 ha,ea circular form. "rIle
~() member Ii5 abuts ag'aiust a mo,.ahle sup-
port 20 takinQ' up the applierl tension flna
pre,enting' the said member from rock-
in!!'. This arrangement combines all the
advantages of precision at the moment of
55 applying- the tE'nsion WitllOut thedifficua-
_ tief! 'of the preparatol';\" operations.
It may be iemarked tllUt the use of the
sertol'~, 'wedg-es or slirles described. llav-
'60 ill'!: their supporting points on the mould,
allows the bars to be stretched between
: any two poiutR of the mould without the
wire pxt!'nrliug' beyond tlle mould.
InstE'ad of sing-Ie reinforcing mem l)ers
65 separate on!'s arranged fnd tn end and ip-
tercnnlleC'tE'fl h~' elem('nts whiC'h trllllilmlt
the tension from one member to another
may be employed.
ill the parent sIleeificatioll it is pro-
posed, ill ('al'l'.ving' out the iuYention, to
u:;e high tenslle steel straiu('d substan- 70
tially be.yond the elastic limit of steel us
normully used ill reinforeed eoncl'ete, the
tensile strength being artificially aug-
llu'llterl by preliminary dnming' or roll-
ing': it has been fOlllld thut steel cau be 75
uclliserl u(h-.antag'eous.ly with its l'eSistallee
automatically augmented In· tempering'
and annealing, and by this !11eans Femal'k~
able results ~lS regards cost anrl llghtlless
ean 01.' obtailled. In fact, 011 the DUE!
llun!! the properties of the tempered steel 80
eun be utilised to the best advantage since
the pl'f.'liminary tension enabl~s m-emlJers
1{) be obtained of which the deformations
(11'1.' ~xtl'elllely reduced Ul:cler loael, as tlle . 85
HpphNl!ltS have proved III the ('oursI.' of
their experiments, and on the other hand
the fact 'of u6ilig tIie metal in t('nsion and
Us elements pra-ctically roe.tiline:!r allow'!
the use of tempored hal'S Sl1l('e they have 90
not to he fashioned or 'Yol'li:ed as in
known reinforcement methods.
[t is impor1ant to control the opel'U-
tinll:! wldeh SPlTe the pm-pose of trHnsmit-
tillg' to the concrete hy compressing; it the 95
tensional forces of the reinforcing' mem-
bers. Actuall~r, if first of all a sing-In
reinforcing' mem l)e1' is released from ten-
sion, whilst the others are under tension,
only the COIu'rete in the neig'1111flUl'hood of 100
this l'einfol'rillg' member will he COIll-
Ilressec1, and in cOllseqne,JlPP of this 10ea]-
isecl f01'('e the artiele wou:l£1 he snhjeci('ll
to undesirnhle deformation. To ayoid
thi::; drawhuek. a prop-re::siye ndioll might 105
h.e pro(luC'erl by slightly l:eduring' the tell-
slon of the firilt l'eirdol'ClIlg llH'lllhel' nIlIl
then or the seC'onrl. nneI So on, and tll(,11
further l'eduein!l: the tension of tll!' :lhs1
memher ~mc1 again of the sel'ond. lUlu1 1'10 1HI
on. Th!,l'ewoulcl tlwn ne,er 1)e iflll exces-
sive difference betwt"en the tensions of
two l'eillfol'ring llH-'tnhe::::-:.
Silllultuneou:-; removal of all the l'eill-
Turping members could then he f'ffecterl h~' 11,)
acting- at the same tiIlle on all the tension-
produC'illg' deyices. This method of
operation is f'nti1'ely possihle if. for
(lxampll'. there is elllnlop·d n ten!'lioning
deyiC'(-' common to ull the l'einfo1'eing' i~O
members. '
Finan~.. when thA eoncrete is ~E-'t unl!
lHll'dened it 1ms a certain adhel'PlIC'e to thl'
mould. ",hi('h adherence opnoses t11(, de- _
formation whi(·It ille relaxed reinforC'ill!.!' i!?::.
members fend to produce by. f'Olnpre::;l'ling'
tllp ('ol1rr!'te.
The wec1!re '/ of Fh'. () nnrl the wpd~rf'
Hi of Fig. 9 nre removed aft!"), spttiJl!!' .of
thp ('ollrretf h;v ~trikiIlg' them, for r~-- 1;:[\
 /J'his Drawing is a reprodaclJiJn 01' lIu! Origutal on a reduced SCalRj

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364,621 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
 , SHEET

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 PATENT SPECIFICATION
589,019
Convention Dates Corresponding ApplIt;atlQns
(France) In United Kingdom .
Aug. I, 1938. No. 21968/39} dated July 28 1939.-
June 3, 1939. No. 21969/39 '
(One Complete Specification left under Section 91 (2) of the Patents and
Designs Acts, 1907 to 1942.). '
Specification Accepted: June 10, 1947.

COlYIPLETE SPECIFICATION

Improvements in and reh~.ting to jack Apparatus-

I, EUGENE FREYSSINET, a citizen o£the synthetic resin.
Republic of France, {)f 28, Rue Saint- Va.rious applications ()f the apparatus, 50
James, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Seine Depart- according to the invention, will be herein-
ment, France, do hereby declare thc after explained.
5 nature of this invention and in- what Other features of the present invention
manner the same is to be .performed, J() will result from the following detailed
be particularly. described, and ascertained description of some specific embodiments 55
in and by the following statement : thereof.
1'he present invention -,- concerns Preferred embodiments of the present
10 apparatus intended t{) act as- jacks. invention will be hereinafter described,
'1'he chief object of the present inven- with reference to the accompanying
tion is to provide an apparatus of this drawings, given merely by way o£ 60.
kind which, whilst of an extremely small example, and in which:-
volume, permits {)f exerting very high Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view
15 pressures, such as those which are .neces- of an apparatus made according to the
sary, in particular, for civil engineering, present invention before the pressure is
such an apparatus being simple to manu- a p p l i e d . ' 65
facture and of low cost. Fig. 2 is a plan view, on a smaller
The apparatus according to the. inven- scale, o£ the apparatus of Fig. 1.
20 tion essentially includes a kind of bag of Fig. 3 is a sectional view analogous to
malleable metal, which includes two Fig. 1, showing the apparatus after the
plates, forming the bearing faces of the pressure has been applied. 70
apparatus and connected together, along Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic partial view,
their edges, by welded joints, _0r other in section, on a larger scale, of the
25 fluid-tig-ht joints, thr{)ugh the medium of annular element provided along the
a cylindrical ()r tore-shaped metal periphery of the apparatus.
element which enables the plates to move Fig. 5 is a section, on an enlarged scale, 75
with respect to each other without being of a removable block formed by apparatus
deformed when the pressure of the fluid according to the invention, embedded in
30 fed into the· bag is modified. A conduit concrete.
fixed on the cylindrical. or tore-shaped Fig. 6 is an elevation, partly in
element or to any other suitable part of section, of an apparatus provided with 80
the apparatus permits of injecting liquid two conduits.
into the bag. Fig. 7 isa horizontal section o£
35 Several methods of applications of such another embodiment of an apparatus
aEparatus will' be hereinafter set forth. according to the invention provided with -,
~According to an important feature of two conduits. 8~'
the present invention, when the apparatus Fig. 8 shows the arrangement of
is to be left in a permanent manner in a clevices arranged side by side according-
4Q piece of work so as t{) create permanent to the invention.
forces' therein, the apparatus is inflated Fig. 9 shows a fluid-tight packing'
with a material whichis injected in the made by means of the apparatus accord- 90
liquid state and which solidifies sub- ing to the invention, between two parts
sequently without· substantialval'iation of a structure.
45 of volume and remains in the solid state Fig. 10 is a seotional view of a device
under normal conditions of use, such a for tensioning rectilinear reinforcements.
matter consisting, for instance ,0£ Fig. 11 is a plan view ()f an apparatus 95
cement, a fusible matter ()r a suitable according' to the invention. . .
 2 589,019
Fig. 12 is 3r sectional view on the line Another advantage olthe apparatus
XII-XII of Fig. 11. according to the invention is that its bear-
Fig. 13 shows, in plan view, a modi~ ing surfaces can be arranged in such
fication of the apparatus, permitting of manner that they do not remain parallel;
5. simultaneously tensioning several rein- they can even be of a' shape {)ther than 70
forcemerits: plane. As a matter of fact, it will be
Fig. 14 is a sectional view on the line readily understood that it would be
XIV-XIVoI Fig. 13. possible to replace plates 1 and 2 of the
Fig. 15 is an axial section 01 a device example above described by sheets having
10 lor tensioning circular reinforcements. any desired shape in section." 76
Fig. 16 shows the end of a ring In ·order to obtain a stroke as great as
segment which constitutes one of the may be necessary, I can employ several
apparatus included in the device 01 Fig. apparatus of the type above described,
15. acting simultaneously, these apparatus
15 Figs. 17 and 18. are sections along being separated from one another by 80
planes passing through lines XVII- elements {)f suitable shape, so as to obtain
XVII and XVIII-XVIII'of Fig. 16. their proper bearing {)n plates 1 and 2
In the embodiment shown by Figs. 1 and elements a (3 b f {)fthe peripheral
to 3, the apparatus includes two parallel parts 3 above-mentioned. .
20 plates 1 and 2, for instance of highly As shown in Fig. 5, two superposed 85
malleable steel sheet or any other metal jack apparatus 9 are embedded in rich
of the same quality. These plates are-~!l..oncrete 9a. Before the pouring of this
connected along their edges .by tore- concrete ea, the peripheral portion of the
shaped or cylindrical elements 3, fluid- jacKa'pparatus is fitted with welded lugs
25tightness being obtained in a perfect or projections 9b so as to ensure their 90
manner by interconnecting the plates and anchoring' in the concrete, the latter
the tore-shaped or cylindrical surfaces by being strongly· reinforced above and below
electric welding or any other equivalent the jack apparatus and also between them,
means. for instance by means {)f a system {)f bars
30 A tube 4 welded on t,he peripheral 10 at right angles t-o one another. 95
element 3' or at any other suitable place The concrete 9a which encloses the
permits of injecting a liquid under jack is poured either tangentially to the
pressure which moves plates 1 and 2 away outer surface of the jack in such manner
from each other while modifying by that the latter surface exactly fills the
j

35 plastic deformation the shape of the tore- concrete section of the said concrete 100
shaped or cylindrical elements the radius block {)r merely in a Iorm that accommo~
of which increases. dates itseH t-o the contour of the jack. In
The presence {)f this peripheral element the first case the concrete block is in fact
. which deforms under the effect of the composed of three superposed blocks
40 pressure.that is transmitted enables plates separated by the jacks and during ill!- 105
1 and 2 to be displaced without being flation no difficulties are encountered
deformed, and Fig. 3 approximately since the three blocks are separated from
shows the shape of the inflated device. one another .
. Before taking this shape, the apparatus In the second case the four parts of the
45 passes through a series of intermediate concrete are fractured along planes which 110
shapes. The active stroke of the contain the tangential· lines of the three
apparatus is equal to the variation hl-h tore~shaped parts 3 of the jacks. These
of the distance between the two plates. fissures open widely when the movements
As shown by Fig. 4, the section of the of the jacks increases. The concrete
50 peripheral element 3 {)f the apparatus blocks do not fracture along other planes 116
includes a circular arc am·b and two by reason of the reinforcing members
curves a e and b f tangential to this nrc which are provided parallel' to the jacks
at a and b respectively and joined to as shown in Fig. 5. -'
plates 1 and 2. It is particularly advisable to have
55 Experience teaches that, with mild steel recourse to the following method in order 120
sheets of a thickness of 2 millimeters, the to ensure the maintaining {)£ the pressure -
pressure in the apparatus can be made as independently of the -fluid-tightness of
high as several hundreds of kilograms per the jack apparatus.
square centimeter .. As the apparatus can The jack apparatus is inflated with a
60 be made with metal sheets {)f a size as material which is first perfectly fluid in 125
great as it may be desired, that is to say order Iully to transmit the pressures and
with a bearing surface as wide as it may to ensure the correct working 01 the jack
be desired,· I can exert, at low cost and apparatus, this material being capable 01
without any complicated mechanical solidilying subsequently and of resisting .
65 device, enormous forces. all causes of destruction, even in the case 130:
 689,019
of disappearance of the bags of the jack
apparatus by corrosion.
As a material of this kind, I may cite
cements or other substances which are
Ii solid at ordinary temperature but have a
relatively low melting point. It is then
necessary to provide an internal or
external, electric· or steam system for
heating the jacks in advance.
10 I have found that it is advantageous to
make use- of synthetio resins whioh, under
the effect of a relatively small variation
of temperature or through the mere
action of time at a constant temperature,
15 pass from the liquid state to the solid
state in which they are very strong fro111
a mechanical point of view. The applica-
tion of a formaldehyde-phenol synthetic
resin hardening at a low temperature or
20 even in the cold state, has proved to be
particularly advantageous. It is in-
jected into the jack apparatus in the
liquid state at the desired pressure and
allowed subsequently to set automatically, .
25 or this setting' can be facilitated by a
heating of the jack apparatus, according
to the adjustment of the composition of
the initial liquid. ..
It may be necessary to vary, in the
30 course of time, the stresses created by the
jack apparatus in the mass of masonry
in which they are incorporated or again
to modify the expansion of the jacks so
as to keep the force they produce to a
35 constant value, despite the slow modifica-
tions of the elastic conditions of their
bearing . points. This will be, in
particular, the case when, the structure
being constituted by conorete, either
40 reinforced or not, it is desired to obtain
constant compression stresses . in the
concrete mass despite its shrinkage and
its slow deformation under load.
H the jack apparatus is filled with a
45 body which remains constantly liquid, it
will suffice to connect such apparatus by
means of pipes with hydraulic pumps or
ncc:umulntors through which their
pressure can be controlled.
5.0 When the_ jack apparatus is first filled
with a body which is first liquid then
solidified, but fusible at a temperature
which can be obtained in practice, I may
proceed to melting and inject into the
65 jack apparatus a new amount of molten
. matter or, 011 the contrary, withdraw
frOll1. such jack apparatus a portion of the
matter they contain.
This solution· involves a danger if the
60 jack apparatus has lost its fluid-tightness,
because the elastic situation created by
them can then be destroyed as a whole, as
soon as the~ filling material of the j a(!k
apparatus comes back into the solid state.
65 This danger can oe avoided _by the com-
8
bined use of a solidifiable matter and a
matter which remains liquid or can very
easily be liquefied. -
1 inject into the upper part of the jack
apparatus, immediately after the injec- 70
tion of the solidifiable matter, such as the
synthetic resin, a small amount of a
liquid which does not mix with this
resin, for instance ordinary mineral oil.
This liquid occupies the portions of the 75
jack close to the inlet conduit and permits
of the injection of new amounts of resin
for periodically re-establishing the pres-
sure in the jack apparatus.
It is advantageous to make use for this 80
purpose of a jack with two conduits con-
nected with each other through the zone
in . which the oil is localized, in such
manner as to permit of the evacuation of
the latter at low pressure before the 85
injection of the supplementary amount of
resin.
Fig. 6 shows a jack apparatus of this
kind which is placed vertically to act in
the horizontal direction. This jack is 90
first filled with resin 11, injected in the
liquid state at the desired pressure and,
after this injection, I introduce, through
tubes 4a and 4b connected to the upper
part of the jack apparatus and fitted with 95
valves 40, an amount of mineral oil
sufficient to .ensure that this oil, pushing
the resin not y.et solidified· ahead of it,
fills a small volume 12 in communication
with the two tubes. 100
When, after solidification of the resin,
it is desired to ill(~rease the expansion of
the jack apparatus, resin is injected in
the liquid state through one of the tubes
4a,the other tube 4b being used for the 105
dischargeo! the oil contained in 12 which
is driven out by the resin that is injected.
When the whole of the volume 12 is
filled with resin, tube 4b is closed and,
through tube 4a, I keep injecting liquid 110·
resin under the desired pressure for
causing it to tear from the walls of the
jack apparatus the matter already
hardened at 11 and forming, between
these walls and this matter, a film of the 115
desired thickness, which will harden
subsequently. But, prior to this harden-
ing, I effect anew injection of oil under
pressure through tubes 4a and 4b so as
again to form the upper volume of oil 12 120
which will permit of further injections
of resin in case of need.
I have found that it is advantageous to
part the matter already hardened from
the walls of the jack apparatus, not 125
directly through the liquid resin but by
means of an injection of oil under
pressure, performed before the introduc-
tionof the liquid resin.
After this result has been obtained 130
 4 589,019
through the action of. oil under pressure,
which will also permit {If checking fluid-
tightness, the pressure is allowed to drop
and the oil is driven out by the liquid
5 resin, as above explained.
When the jack apparatus is placed
horizontally to act vertically I may pro-
vide, at its center, a kind of bell-shaped
part 13 (see Fig. 7), which will be con-
10 nectecl to tubes 4a and 4b and will sene
to receive the small volume of oil 12.
One of the tubes can be replaced by a
fine· tube passing through the inside of
the other.
15 One of the tubes may drop down to a
certain level so as to establish a low level
of the oil, which is .a protection against
the danger of total filling by resin.
In the arrangement shown in Fig. 8
20 two jacks 14, 15 are arranged side by side
between the masses Hi to be compressed,
one .of which jacks 14 for instance,is
inflated with oil, while the other, 15, is
inflated with a solidi:fiable matter such as
25 resin. The pressure of jack 14 having
beim allowecl to drop to zero, jack 15
alone will :first be brought into play and,
after injection ·of the resin a small amount
o(oil is admitted into the conduit Df this
30 jack apparatus 15, as above explained.
Then, jack apparatus 14 is connected
with a constant pressure hydraulic
accumulator. This connection has for ;its
object to maintain the pressure in the
35 jack 14 constant and therefore the latter
is inflatedDl' deflated automatically
according to whether the reaction which
it receives from its supports is weaker or
stronger than the pressure Df the
. 40 accumulator. As the .blocks 16 are b~ing
moved, the eXpanSl{)ll of the Jack
apparatus increases, while keeping the
force at a constant value. \Then the
expansion 'cif apparatus 14" reaches a
45 value such that a leak which WQuid
destroy the pressure in this app!1ratus
niight be dangerous, liqnid resin is fed
into jack apparatus 15 under a pressure
slightly higher than that exist.ing in
50 jack apparatus 14, preferably WIth the
.. use ofa double conduit, as above
explained. This resin forms a film at the
surface of the resin already hardened,
then it itself hardens. The injection of
55:resin into apparatus 15 is followed by an
injection of oil. The expansion ·of jack
apparatus 14 has thus been brought back
to zero. In the course of a subsequent
movement of the blocks it increases; a
60 further amount of resin is then injected
into jack apparatus 15, and so {In.
The two jack apparatus might be dis-
posed inside a block of concrete poured
around them, as above described with
65 reference to Fig. 5. This arrangement
can, of course. be utilized for one or
several jacks.
The jack appuratus according to the
invention is adapted to a great number of
applications. As above explained, it .70
permits of maintaining permanent com··
pression stresses in reinIDrced conerete
constructions ()r parts of constructions in
such manner as to oppose the formation
in this material of detrimental tractiYe 75
stresses, and this is a very important
application of the jack apparatus accord-
ing to the invention. From this point of
view, it can be utilized independently of
the preliminary tensioning of the concrete 80
reinforcements or in combination with
this tensioning for the production of
which they can be utilized.
The apparatus according to the inven-
tion also permits Df creating horizontal 85
forces between the joints .of structures,
for instance between the joints of big
dams for neutralizing the stresses result-
ing from sliding of the ground along the
side of a hill. 90
I may take advantage of the fittfllg in
position of the jack apparatus in these
joints for ensuring fluid-tightness thereot.
Fig. 9 shows an arrangement which
can be utilized for this purpose. I have 95
shown, in this fig., in horizontal section,
two blocks 17 Dr a dam, separated from
each other by a joint 18. In this joint or
packing device, I place a series of jacks
9 according to the invention. These jacks 100
transmit their pressure to the blocks 17
through wedges 19 and cushions 20 of
plastic material such as rubber, bitumen
and asbestos, etc. A metal sheet 21, bent
and held between wedges 19 and blocks 105
17. ensures fluid tightness.
In Fig. 10, the jack apparatus is
applied to the tensioning of a group of
rectilinear reinforcements 101 of a con-
crete or masonry block 102. The 1'ein- 110
forcements are anchored at .one of their
ends 103 in the block and, oyer the re-
mainder Df their length they are free in
a cylindrical chamber 104 provided in the
course of the construction of the block. 115
1,'he jack apparatus that is utilizedin~
cludes, as shown by Figs. 11 and 12, two
flat rings 105 and 106 .of a malleable
metal, the edges of which are connected
t,wo by two through tore~shaped peri- 120
pheral elements 107 and 108. The
annular jack apparatus thus formed has,
at its central part, an aperture 109
through which the reinforcements to be
tensioned can be passed, and it is fitted, 125
on one ·of the peripheral tore~shaped
elements, with an inlet conduit 110 for
the introduction of the liquid matter
nnder pressure. .-
In Fig. 10, I have shown three of these 130

jacks V 1 , V 2 , Va, superposed with the inter-
position of wedges 111 which can be made
of concrete or any other suitable mate-
rial. After the fitting in position of these
5 jacks, the mass of concrete 112 in which
the upper ends 113 of the reinforcements
to be tensioned are anchored is poured
above the upper jack. When the concrete
mass 112 has set and hardened, I simul-
10 tuneously expand all of the jacks, which
move the mass 112 away fr·om the block
102, thus tensioning th~ reinforcements.
The number of jacks to be employed
yaries of course according to the expan-
15 sion of these jacks and according to the
value of the elastic elongation which is
to be undergone by the reinforcements.
The tension of the reinforcements can
be maintained by the solidification of the
20 matter injected into the jacks and, if
necessary, as soon as the jacks have
acted. it is possible to pOUl' concrete be-
tween the block 102 and the anchoring
head 112. I may provide in this head
25 channels such as 114, which will serve to
fill the chamber 104 ·of the reinforcements
and the central .opening of the jacks with
concrete.
If it is desired subsequently to
30 eliminate the tensioning of the reinforce-
ments, it suffices to destroy one or several
of the intermediate wedges 111 which are
made sufficiently thick to permit them to
be reached between the jacks.
35. The jack apparatus may be designed in
such manner as to permit the simul-
taneous tensioning of several groups of
reinforcements. Thus, it is seen, in Figs.
13 and 14, that a jack may be provided
40 with four holes 109a, 109b, 10ge, 109d
through which four groups of reinforce-
ments to be tensioned 104a, 104b, 104e,
104d can be passed.
The tensions imparted to the reinforce-
45 ments may be equal or unequal according
to the arrangement of the cables, which
is determined as a functi{)nof the desired
distribution of the tensions, account being
taken of the fact that the center of
50 gravity of the reactions exerted by the
cables on a jack coincides with the center
of gravity of the surface of action of the
jack.
The jack apparatus according to the
55 invention affords a solution .of the diffi-
cult pr{)blem of tensioning thereinf{)rce-
ments of blocks of circular section. As a
matter .of fact, it is possible to dispose
a series of such jack devices between the
60 block to be compressed and the circular
reinforcements to be tensioned. H{)wever
it is more advantageOu.s to make the jack
in the form of a flattened tube, which
can easily be housed between. the block
60 and the reinforcement. For instance, in
'0
the embodiment of Fig. 15, I have shown
in section a block of concrete 115 in the
form ·of an annulus of revolution having
its axis at A-,,-A. Each of the circular
reinforcements of this block to be ten- 70
sianed is constituted by a plurality of
turns 116 'Of a metallic cable, wound on
one another, preferably on the inside of a
ring' 117 of U-shaped section which can
also form a part of the reinforcement. 76
This element 117 is elastically elongated
simultaneously with the reinforcing mem-
bers when the jack is subjected to pres-
sure. Between this ring 117 and the
block, there is interposed an annular jack 80
according to the invention. This
apparatus can be made, for instance, by
assembling along their edges, through
tore-shaped elements 118, 119, two cylin-
drical annular parts 120, 121 .concentric 85
and coaxial. Intermediate wedges 122,
123 of reinforced concrete of other mate-
rial matter are pr.ovided on either side of
the jack apparatus.
. When the reinforcements to be ten- 90
sioned are to be embedded .on the inside of .
the block to be compressed and placed
under tension after pouring of the whole
of the block, I arrange the whole of the
j aok and the reinforcements inside a 95
sleeve or casing 124 leaving the space
necessary for the increase of diameter of
the reinforcement when the jack is in-
flated. This jack is fitted with an in:fiat-
ing conduit 125 whichean be reached 100
both from the outside and the inside of
the block or only from the inside or the
outside. The element 124 forms in the
concrete a spaee serving to house the jack
the reinforcements 116 and the gutter 10.6
117. This space is sufficient to provide
loi'an increase in diameter in the mem-
bers 116 and the member 117. The mem-
ber 124 thus plays a passive part which
is to permit of this increase in· diameter. llQ
At its oase it is comprised by a hooping
action as well as by the adjacent concrete.
The jack may consist of a complete
ring or it may be formed of a plurality
of elementary j aoks each in the form of 115
an annular segment and placed end to
end.' This last mentioned arrangement
is advantageous from the point of view of
safety and protection against leakage of
the liquid matter, when the jack is in- 120
flated. If, in this case, one()f the jacks
should leak, the ()thers will keep working
and the only consequenee .of the leakage
is an increase of. the expansion of the
elements adjoining the defective element. 125
The flattened tube which forms each of
the segments and the transverse section of
which is visible on Fig. 17 can be closed
at its ends by covering it with a kind ()f
flat cap 126 provided with a horse-shoe- 180
 589,019
shaped peripheral element 127 which con~
nects the edge elements 128, 129 of the flat
tube. -The cap and the tube are assembled
together in a fluid tight manner, for
6 instance by welding at 126a.
The tube can be made of a single piece
without any welding) that is a tube pro-
perly so called and not a junction of the
end caps with the tube by drawing a
10 malleable metal such as copper, steel or
the like, or it can also be made of two
parts welded together on the edges at 130,
131, as in the case of Figs. 16 to 18. rfhe
same is true of the caps 126 which can be
15 made of a single piece by stamping or
call be made of two parts welded together
along their edges.
The use of weldless tubes, tested before
they are fitted in position, eliminates or
20 reduces the risks of inefficient function-
ing of an element at the time of inflating.
It is possible to make use of several
superposed annular jack elements or
several superposed ring segments, which
25 -permits ·of increasing the expansion of
the jack apparatus and also the safety.
This arrangement is also well adapted
to the tensioning of helical reinforce-
ments or even of reinforcements
30 of any desired curvature, the ten-
sion obtained at each point being in-
versely proportional to' the radius of
-cUrvature at this point.
. The jack apparatus permits of effecting
35 the tensioning of circular reinforcements,
not only on the outside of a block but also
on the inside, which is a very consider-
able advantage. This last mentioned case
is that of Fig. 15. In the case in which
. 40 the block is hollow and the circular rings
to' be tensioned are near the inner surface
"of the block, it is advisable to connect
-them with the rem.ainder of said block
through suitable reinforcements, for in-
45 .stance helical reinforcements wQlmd
around the circular reinforcements. In
,Fig. 15 the numerals 132 refer to a steel
thread rolled helically in the concrete
around the element 124 which contains
60 -the circular tensioned reinforcements 116.
In order to limit the risks of leakage, I
may mi~with the liquid used for inflat-
ing. the jack' apparatus substances such as
_wood flour, keiselguhr, or others capable
c 55 of filling a crack.
I: have also Iound that re-inflating or
the jack apparatus in the course ()f its use
CUll be effected by making a hole
through . the. -feed (lDnduit into the
. 60 hardened -material and injecting- through
-this holEf a new amount of liquid under a
_,high- pressure which may be several hun-
dreds of kilograms per square centimeter.
This'material forms a path through the
_J~;; .h[l.J'de_ned.material by causip.g it t9 burst,
and the jack apparatus is thus reinflated~
When it is not possible to drive a hole
through the conduit which has been 11sed
for initially inflatiugthe jack device, it
suffices to provide a hole at an accessible 70
point of the apparatus alid to drive there-
into a conical needle, provided, in the
direction of its axis, with a passage
through which the liquid matter is in-
j eeted under high pressure. 75
Besides, when leakage occurs in a jack)
at an accessible point thereof, it is
possible to repair ()n the spot by electric
or blowpipe welding by taking the pre-
caution of driving a hole in the wall of 80
the device close to the point to be re~
paired, for the escape of the gases or
vapours given off by the filling matter,
this hole being subsequently closed by a
conical spindle driven in with a hammer. 85
A leak .can also be stopped by per-
manently deforming the metal or tightly
applying thereon an element of suitable
shape, with the interposition of a plastic.
joint. 90
The jack apparatus according to the
in,ention can be employed for compress-
ing not only solid blocks but also liquid,
pasty, or powdery masses, such as con-
cretes, -earth formations and the like. By 95 .
providing the jack on the inside of these
masses, I obtain their setting in com~
pression directly, without requiring ele-
ments for the transmission of pressure.
The external deformation of said masses 100
can be limited or prevented, either by
means of solid blocks or by means of enve~
lopes,or by a combination of these two
means, the compression of said solid
blocks or the setting intension of the 105
envelopes of . the compressed materials
being in this case obtained in addition.
In particular, the jack apparatus
according to the invention c.an be used
with great facility for modifying the 110
state of equilibrium of earth formations, -
sands, muds or days. They can thus be
given the form of elongated plates which
will be lowered into the ground by beat-
ing, either between two plates of suitable 115
shape, ()r by injection of water, ()r in any
other way.
This method permits of opposing, in
some cases, the settling of ground forma-
tions under the effect of certain weights 120
, such for instance as those of buildings, of
compensating for settling in some con-
structions, such as ground dams, and so
on, of compressing the ground formations
under masonrystrnctures, of ensuring the 125
fluid tightness of a ground formation, of
restoring the equilibrium of a. COll'lt~uc­
tion or bringing it back to a desired level.
In a general manner, while I have, in
the above description, dis.closedwhat I 130
 589,019
deem to be practical and efficient embodi~
ments of the present invention, it should
be understood that I do not wish to be
limited thereto as chang'es mig'ht be made
5 in the arrangement, disposition and form
of the parts without departing' from the
principle of the present invention as com-
prehended within the scope or the
appended claims.
10 Having now particularly described and
ascertained the nature of my said inven~
tion ancl in what manner the same is to
be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:-
15 1. A jack device characterised in that
it ineludes a kind ·of bag or malleable
metal which is constituted by two plates
forming the bearing faces of the jack de-
vice and connected al{mg their edges by
20 welded joints or other fluidtig'ht joints,
through the medium of a cylindrical or
tore-shaped annular metal structure
which enables the plates to be displaced
without being' deformed, when the pl'es~
25 sure of the fluid fed to the bag is modified.
2. An application ()f the jack device set
forth in Claim 1, characterised by the
combination of one or several jacks with
wedge-shaped distance pieces; disposed
30 between the j ackol' jacks and the sur-
faces along which they bear and adapted
to permit of replacing' one or several jacks
in case of its or their fa'ilure thereof to
function.
35 3. A method of application of the jack
device specified in Claim 1, characterised
in that one or several jack devices are em-
bedded in concrete, preferably rich and
strongly reinforced, surrounding said
40 jack or jacks and forming a block there-
with.
4. A method of application of the jack
device specified in claim 1, characterised
in that said jack is filled with a material
45 introduced in the liquid state and under
the desired pressure, but capable of subse~
quently solidifying and of remaining
solid under normal conditions of use, such
for instance as a cement, a fusible matter,
5.0 of a synthetic resin. - segments, mounted end to end.
5. A method of application according
to claim 4 further characterized in that,
after the injecti()n ()f the solidifiable mate~
rial, there is introduced into th~ jack a
55 small amount ()f a material remaining in a
liquid or easily liquefiable state; as for
instance a mineral oil which is localized
in the jack in the vicinity of the feed con~
duit thereof, this liquid permitting the
60 future injection of further amounts of
solidifiable matter, with a view to modi-
fying' the pressure or the expansion of the
jack, the jack being eventually provided,
for this purpose, with two tubes or
7
channels connected to the place where the 65
liquid matter, such as oil, tends to be
localized, which permits of removing this
oil through one of the tubes or channels
when the Bolidifiable matter is injected
through the other, one of the tubes beins' 70
eventually. formed by a fine tube extend-
ing through the other.
6. A method of application ac.cording
to claim 4 and 6, characterized by the
combination of two jacks, one of which is 75
loaded with a liquid the pressure of which
can be varied within certain limits and
in which the pressure can be lliaintained
at a constant value by connecting it, for
instance, to a hydraulic accumulator and 80
the other is loaded with a solidifiable
matter, while, however, inje'.;ting, after
introcluction of said matter, a small
amount of a liquid. which does not mix
with the solidifiable matter, which per~ 85
mits, through supplementary injections
ofsolidifiable matter -into this second-
mentiolledjack, {)f maintaining the pres~
suree()£ the first, or its expansion below
the value at which a defect of :B.uid- 90
tightness would become dangerous, these
two jacks being ·preferably embedded in
concrete for forming a block.
7. A jack devi0e according' to claim 1,
characterizf\d :in that it js provided with 95
holes for the passage of reinforcements or
other (:llements to be tensioned.
. 8. A jack cleviea according to claim 1,
characterized in ;;hat it is of the shape of
a flat tube which can be curved for in- 100
stance into rings {)r ring segments, per-
mitting' of tensioning curvilinear, circular
or helical reinforcements, for instance.
9. A device according to claim 1 for
tensioning curvilinear reinforcements, 10&
for instance circular or helical l'einfQrce-
ments, characterized in that it includes
one or several jacks, in the form of flat
tubes interposed 'between the reinforce-
ment to be tensioned and the mass or 110
structure to be acted upon, each jack de-
vice being preferably made of several ele-
mentary jacks in the form of curvilinear
10. A device according to claim 9, 115
applimtble to the case in which the rein-
forcement to be tensioned are located on
the inside ·of the structure, this device in~
eluding, around the jack and the rein-
forcements to be tensioned are located on' 120
casing fixed in position before the con~
struction of the structure and preserving'
the space necessary for the expansion of
the jacks and the reinforcements.
11. A jack device substantially as 125
descri'bedwith reference to any of the
Figures of the accompanying drawing'S.
8

Dated this 28th day of July, 1939. ABEL & BIRAY,

Agents for the Applicant,
Quality House, Quality Oourt,
Chancery Lane, London, W.C.2.

Leamington Spa: Printed for His Majesty's Statio eery Office, by the Courier Press.-1947.
Published at The Pi>tent Office, 25, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.2, from which
copies, price Is. Gd. each (inland) Is. ld. (abroad) may be obtained
589 1 019 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

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Dec, 24, 1940. E. FREYSSINET 2,226,201
JACKIAPPARATUS
Filed July 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1

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Dec. 24, 1940. E. FREYSSINET 2,22 6,20 1
JACK APPARATUS
Filed July 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2
Dec. 24, 1940- E. FREYSSINET 2,225,201
JACK APPARATUS

Filed July 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3

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Dec. 24, 1940. E_ FREY$$|NET ’ 2,226,201
JACK APPARATUS

Filed July 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4

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E. IFREYSSINET 2,226,201
JACK APPARATUS
Filed July 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 5
 a

Patented Dec. 24, 1940,

' 2,226,201

' UNITED ‘STATES PATENT OFFICE

‘2,220,201 . . . ‘ ~

JACK APPARATUS
Eugene Freyssinet, Neuilly-lnr-Seinc, m .
Application July 5, 1939. ‘Serial No. zazssr
France August 1, 1938
200mm. (oLei-so) ' ' '>
The present invention concerns apparatus in on a larger scale, of the annular element pro
tended to act as jacks. vided along the periphery of the apparatus;
The chief object of the present invention is to Fig. 5 illustrates a method 01' applicationof an
provide an apparatus of this kind which, under apparatus according to the invention;
5 an extremely small volume, permits of exerting Fig. 6 is a detail view-on an enlarged scale of a
very high efforts, such as those which are neces portion of Fig. 5, in section by a plane parallel
sary, in particular, for civil engineering, such an to the plane of Fig. 5;
. apparatus being simple to manufacture and of low , Fig. 7 is a section ‘on the line,V'II—-VII of
cost. ' -

10 The apparatus according to the invention es Fig. 8 is a section,~o'n an enlarged scale, of a 10

sentially includes a kind of bag of a malleable removable block formed by apparatus according
metal, which may include two plates, forming the to the invention, embedded in concrete; ~
bearing faces of the apparatus and connected to Fig. 9 is an elevational view, partly in section,
gether, along their edges, by welded joints, or of an apparatus provided with two- conduits;
15, other ?uid-tight joints, preferably through. the Fig. 10 is'a horizontal section of another em 15
intermediate or a cylindrical or tore-shaped ele bodiment of an apparatus according to the in-'
ment which enables the plates to move with re vention provided with two conduits;
spect to each other without being deformed when ‘Fig. 11 shows‘the arrangement of two super
.20 'the pressure of the ?uid fed into the bag is modi- '
?ed. A conduit ?xed on the cylindrical or tore
posed apparatus according to‘ the invention;
Fig. 12'shows a ?uidtight packing made by 20
7
shaped element or to any other suitable part of means of ‘the apparatusaccording to the inven- _ ‘
the apparatus permits of injecting liquid into the tion, between two parts of a construction;
bag. , '
Fig. 13 is a sectional view of a device for ten
Several methods of applications of such ap sioning rectilinear reinforcements;
paratusvwill be hereinafter set forth.‘ . ‘ Fig. 14 is a plan view of an apparatus accord
According to an important feature of the ing to the invention incorporated in a system;
present invention, when the apparatus is to be Fig. 15 is a sectional view on the line XV-XV
left in a permanent manner in a piece ofwork of Fig. 14; ~ . -
so as to create permanent efforts therein, the Fig. 16 shows, in plan view, a modi?cation of
apparatus is in?ated with a matter which is in the apparatus, permitting oi’ simultaneously ten 30
jected in the liquid state and which solidi?es sub sioning several reinforcements; . ‘
sequently without substantial variation of volume - Fig. 17 is a sectional view on the line"
and remains in the solid state under normal con XVII-XVII of Fig. 16;
ditions of use, such a matter consisting, for in . Fig. 18 is an axial section of'a device for .ten
stance, of cement,‘a fusible matter or a suitable vsioning circular reinforcements; 35
synthetic resin. _
Various applications of the apparatus, accord
Fig. 19 shows the end ‘of a ring ‘segment which
ing to the invention, will be hereinafter explained. constitutes one of the apparatus included in the
device of Fig. 18; _
Other features of the present invention will Figs. 20 and 21 are sections by planes passing
result from the following detailed description of through lines xx-xx and XXI-XXI of Fig. 19; 40
some speci?c embodiments thereof.
Preferred embodiments of the present inven Fig. 22 shows, in vertical section, a modi?cation
which constitutes a kind of in?atable post; ' '
tion will be hereinafter described, with reference Fig. 23 is a sectional view on the line
to .‘the accompanying drawings, given merely by xxm-xxm ‘of Fig. 22. ' On this ?gure 45
way of example, and in which: '
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an XXIEEXXII designates the trace of the plane of
Fig. . . '

_ apparatus made according to the present inven

tion before the pressure is applied;
Fig.2 is a plan view, on a smaller scale, of the
apparatus of Fig. 1; '
Fig. 3 is a sectional view analogous to Fig. 1,
showing the apparatus after the pressure has
been applied;
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic partial view, in section, ‘ connecting the plates and the tore-shaped or
In the embodiment shown by Figs. 1 to 3, the
apparatus includes two parallel plates l and 2,
for instance of highly malleable steel sheet or 50
any other metal of the same quality. These
plates are connected along their edges by tore
shaped or cylindrical elements 3, ?uidtightness
being obtained in a perfect manner by inter
55
 2 2,226,201
cylindrical surfaces by‘electric welding or any sheets having any desired shape in section. ‘
‘other equivalent means. Therefore, it is possible to produce complex ef
A tube 4 welded on the peripheral element 3 ‘forts which have not a single resultant.
or at any other suitable place permits of in In order to obtain a stroke as great as it may
jecting a liquid under pressure which moves be necessary, I can superpose several apparatus
plates l and 2 away from each other, while of the type above described, acting simultaneous
modifying by plastic deformation .the shape of ‘ly, these apparatus being separated from one an
the tore-shapedor cylindrical elements the radius other by elementsof suitable shape, so as to ob
tain their proper bearing on plates I and 2 and
of which increases. ‘ '
The presence of this peripheral element which ‘elements a e b j of the peripheral parts 3 above 10
deforms under the effect of the pressure that is ‘mentioned.
transmitted enables plates 1 and 2 of being dis
Fig. 5 shows the application of the apparatus
placed without being deformed, and Fig. 3 ap according to the invention, as above described,
to a multiple arch dam 6, diagrammatically shown
proximately shows the shape of the in?ated de 16
15 vice. Before taking this shape, the apparatus :in transverse section.
For instance, it is desired, in order to raise the
passes through a series of intermediate shapes. level of the dam, to establish at ‘I a supplemen
The active stroke of the apparatus is equal to tary support for prop 8 which has become in
the variation h1-—h of the distance between the su?icient. If one waits until the elastic deforma
two plates. , tions of the dam and of part 8, at the time of the 20
20 As shown by Fig. 4, the section of the periph lifting of the whole, produce an effective bearing
eral element 3 of the apparatus includes a cir in plane A'—A, there may occur, as a consequence
cular arc amb and two curves ac and bf tangent ‘displacements of the mass which will disintegrate
to this are at a and b respectively and joined to it and destroy the liquid-tightness of the dam.
plates 1 and 2. The masses 0 and p to be com .The supplementary resistance created at. ‘I will
25 pressed have surfaces which correspond to the come into play only after the occurring of the
shape of plates l and 2, in such manner that the disorders it was intended to avoid. Everything
surface along which the apparatus according to iwill take place in a very different manner if there
the invention bears on the masses is limited on is arti?cially created, before the operation, or
either face of the apparatus by the curve which gradually in the course of this operation, an ac 30
30 is the geometric locus of points a and b on the 'tive effort on element 8 equal to the reaction
respective faces. If the masses in question are which it has been deemed useful to rely upon
not shaped to correspond to the shape of these from part ‘I. The deformation of the whole can
bearing surfaces, the apparatus according to the thus be reduced to a value compatible with the
invention may be embedded in concrete before possibilities of plastic deformations of the forma 85
35 they are ?tted in position, the embedding concrete tions.
being limited by surfaces corresponding to those In order to produce the desired effort in plane
of the above mentioned masses, in particular ?at A-A, it is necessary to have apparatus, adapted
surfaces as it will be hereinafter explained. to act as jacks, which are of very high power with
When plates I and 2 are moved away from each a volume as reduced as possible. The apparatus 40
40 other, the radius and length of arc amb increases, according to the invention as above described are
at the expense of elements a e and b j, which are particularly well adapted to this use and they
?rst applied against the masses 0 and p and do not involve considerable expenses.
which are detached from said masses so as to. Several of these apparatus may be placed side
assume a circular shape over lengths a g and b 1. by side and they will act simultaneously for ob 45
45 ‘Thus arc amb becomes are 9' m’ 1’, the masses 0 taining the desired efforts.
and p being moved away from each other with a In the case of apparatus of this kind which
translatory motion, so as to come at o’ and p’. By are kept under pressure in such manner as to
varying the shape and inclination of elements .transmit permanent efforts to masonry works, ar
.a e and b f it is possible to modify displacement rangements must be taken for permitting of with
50 mm’, either by displacing m’ toward the outside drawing and replacing the aparatus which would,
with respect to m or by moving it toward the in [prove defective for lack of ?uidtightness.
‘side, or again by rendering this displacement It is possible, for this purpose, to insert, be
equal to zero, in which case m’ coincides with m, tween the apparatus and the parts against which
‘the displacement, if any, complying with a given they bear, wedge-shaped packing elements. An
55 law, which can be chosen. For instance, by mak arrangement of this kind is shown by Figs. 6 to 8.
!ing a e and b j of rectilinear shape and inclining On either side of the plane A—-A in which the
'them at an angle of about 45° with respect to the ‘prop or buttress 8 and the supplementary foun
Iplates, point m is not substantially displaced. dation ‘I are to bear against each other, I pro- '
Experience teaches that, with mild steel sheets vide masses or blocks ‘la, 80 of concrete which 60
60 of a thickness of 2 millimeters, the pressure in is rich and su?iciently reinforced for being able
.‘the apparatus can be made as high as several to support the efforts tobe transmitted, which are
hundreds of kilograms per square centimeter. particularly important in the vicinity of the plane
As the apparatus can be made with metal sheets A-A in which the apparatus according to the
of a size as great as it may be desired, that is to invention will be disposed. These blocks are dis 5
say with a bearing surface as wide as it may be posed in adjoining relation respectively to foun
desired, I can exert, at low cost and without any wdation 1 and buttress 8. They bear against each
‘complicated mechanical device, enormous e?orts, 'other, through a series of dry joints ‘lb which
as high as several millions of tons. form in plane A——A a kind of castellated struc
* Another advantage of the apparatus accord ture (Fig. '7). The recesses 1c in this structure 70
70 ring to the invention is that its bearing surfaces serve to house the apparatus according to the in
can be arranged in such maner that they do not vention (on the left hand side of Fig. 7, I have
remain parallel; they can even be of a shape other shown two of these recesses which are not yet
‘than plane. As a matter of fact, it will be readily provided with the apparatus according to the
'understood that it would be possible to replace invention).
75 ‘plates l and 2 of the example above described by These apparatus are brought into play, in a.
 2,220,201
particularly advantageous manner, in the form
of a block embedded in concrete, including for
instance, as shown by Fig. 8, two superposed jack
apparatus 9, embedded in concrete 9a. Before
the pouring of this concrete 9a, the peripheral
portion of the jack: apparatus is ‘?tted with
welded lugs or projections 9b so as to ensure
their anchoring in the concrete, the latter being
strongly reinforced above and below the jack
10 apparatus and also between them, for instance
3
corporated or again to modify the expansion of
the jacks so as to keep the effort they produce
to a constant value, despite the slow modi?cations
of the elastic conditions of their bearing points.
This will be, in particular, the case when, the
structure being constituted by concrete, either
reinforced or not, it is desired to obtain constant
compression stresses in the concrete mass despite
its shrinkage and its slow deformation under
load. I . ' a

by means of a system of bars ill at right angles 10

to one another. _
If the jack apparatus are ?lled with a body
which remains constantly liquid, it ‘will su?ice
In a given recess 1c, 1 dispose, as shown by to connect these jack apparatus through pipes
Fig. 6, a system including a plurality of jack ap with hydraulic pumps or accumulators through
15 paratus and a mass of concrete made as above
which their pressure can be controlled.
explained, and a wedge Na, which can be con When the jack apparatus are ?rst ?lled with
stituted, for instance, by a piece of reinforced a body which is ?rst liquid then solidi?ed, but
concrete covered by two metal sheet plates lllb. fusible at a temperature which can be obtained
The intervals lllc between block hand the in practice, I may proceed to a melting and inject
20 system constituted by the jack apparatus, the
into the jack apparatus a new amount of molten 20
concrete mass and the wedge, and between this matter or, on the contrary, withdraw from these
system and block 8a are ?lled with jagged con jack apparatus a portion of the matter they con
crete. -
n-. -'
When the jack apparatus are subjected to This solution involves a danger if the jack ap
25 the action of pressure, they are in?ated and
paratus have lost their ?uidtightness, because the 25
transmit their effort to buttress ‘I and to founda elastic situation created by them can then be
. tion I through the concrete which embeds them destroyed‘ as a-whole, as soon as the ?lling matter
and the various intermediate elements, especially of the jack apparatus comes back into the solid
wedges Illa. The dry joints lb are opened a dis- ,
30 tance equal to the stroke or displacement of the state. This danger can be avoided by the com
jack apparatus. bined use of a, solidi?able matter and a matter 30
which remains liquid or can very easily be lique
If lack of ?uid tightness occurs in one of the ?ed. ‘
jack apparatus units, the corresponding wedge I-inject into the upper part of the jack appa
35
Illa is driven out or it is destroyed by reducing ratus, immediately after the injection of the
into powder the concrete of which it is made. vsolidi?able matter, such as the synthetic resin,
It is thus possible to remove the jack apparatus a small amount of a liquid which does not mix 35
unit, which is replaced by a new unit. with this resin, for instance ordinary mineral oil.
It is particularly advisable to have recourse This liquid comes to occupy the portions of the
to the following method in order to ensure the jack close to the inlet conduit and permits the
maintaining of the pressure independently of the injection of new amounts of resin for periodically
?uid-tightness of the jack apparatus: 40
re-establishing ‘the pressure in the jack appa
The jack apparatus are in?ated with a matter ' ratus.
which is ?rst perfectly ?uid in order fully to It will be advantageous to make use for this
transmit the pressures and to ensure the correct purpose of a jack with two conduits connected
working of the jack apparatus, this matter be with each other through the zone in which the 45
ing capable of solidifying subsequently and of oil is localized, in such manner as to permit the
resisting all causes of destruction, even in the evacuation of the latter at low pressure before the
case of disappearance of the bags of the jack injection of thesupplementary amount of resin.
apparatus by corrosion.
Fig. 9 shows a jack apparatus of this kind
As matter of this kind, I may cite cements or which is supposed to act in the vertical direction. 50
matters which are solid at ordinary temperature This jack is ?rst ?lled with resin ll, injectedin
but have a relatively low boiling point. It is then the liquid state at the desired pressure and, after
necessary to provide an internal or external, this injection, I introduce, through tubes 4a and
electric or steam system for heating the jacks in lb, connected to the upper part of the jack ap
advance.
paratus and ?tted with valves 40, an amount of 55
I have found that it is advantageous to make mineral oil sufficient in order that this oil, push
use of synthetic resins which, under the effect ing the resin not yet solidi?ed ahead of it, ?lls
of a relatively small variation of temperature or
a small volume I2 in communication with the
through the mere action of time at constant tem two tubes.
perature, pass from the liquid state to the solid
state in which they are very strong from a me When, after solidi?cation of the resin, it is de 60
chanical point of view. The application of a sired to increase the expansion of the jack appa
formaldehyde-phenol synthetic resin hardening ratus, resin is injected in the liquid state through
one of the tubes la, the other tube 4b being used
at low temperature or even in the cold state, such for the discharge of the oil contained in f 2
as the resin sold on the market under the name ' which is driven out by the resin that is injected. 65
of “brauthite” has proved to be particularly ad; When the whole of the volume I! is ?lled with
vantageous. It will be injected into the jack ap
paratus in the liquid state at the desired pressure resin, tube lb| is closed and, through tube in, I
and it will be allowed subsequently to set auto
keep injecting liquid resin under the desired pres
70 matically. or this setting will be facilitated by a sure for causing it to tear the walls of the jack
heating of the jack apparatus, according to the apparatus fromthe matter already hardened at 70
adjustment of the composition of the initial liquid. H and forming, between these walls and this
It may be necessary to vary, in the course of matter, a ?lm of the desired thickness, which
will harden subsequently. ' But, prior to this
time, the efforts created by the jack apparatus, .hardening, I will proceed to a new injection of
76 in the mass of masonry in which they are in
oil under pressure through tubes to and 4b so as 75
 2,226,201
again to form the upper volume of oil I2 which
will permit further injections of resin in case
of need.
I have found that it is advantageous to part
the matter already hardened from the walls of
the jack apparatus, not directly through the liq
uid resin but by means of an injection of oil
under, pressure, performed before the introduc
tion of the liquid resin. This parting is relative
10 ly easy in the case of “brauthite” because it does
not adhere to sheet iron.
After this result has been obtained through
the action of oil under pressure, which will also
permit of checking ?uidtightness, the pressure
15 is allowed to drop and the oil is driven out by
the liquid resin, as above explained.
When the jack apparatus are used in the hori
zontal direction, I may provide, at their center,
a kind of bell-shaped part I3 (see Fig. 10), which
20 will be connected to tubes 4a and 4b and will
serve to receive the small volume of oil I2.
One of the tubes can be replaced by a ?ne
tube passing through the inside of the other.
One of the tubes may drop down to a certain
25 level so as to establish a low level of the oil,
which is a protection against the danger of total
?lling by resin.
A particularly interesting arrangement con
sists in superposing two jack apparatus ll, I5
80 (Fig. 11) between the masses I6 to be compressed,
one of which jack apparatus, II for instance,
will be in?ated with oil, while the other, I5,
is in?ated with a solidi?able matter such as resin.
The pressure of jack I4 having been allowed to
85 drop to zero, jack I5 alone will ?rst be brought
into play and, after injection of the resin a small
amount of oil will be sent into the conduit of
this jack apparatus ‘I5, as above explained.
Then, jack apparatus It will be connected with
40 a constant pressure hydraulic accumulator. As
blocks It are being moved, the expansionof the
jack apparatus increases, while keeping the ef
fort at a constant value. When the expansion
of apparatus I4 reaches a value such that a leak
45 which would destroy the pressure in this appa
ratus might be dangerous, liquid resin is fed into
jack apparatus I5 under a pressure slightly
higher than that existing in jack apparatus Il,
with the eventual use of a double conduit, as
50 above explained. This resin will come to form a
?lm at the surface of the resin already hardened,
then it will itself harden. The injection of resin
into apparatus I5 is followed by an injection of
oil. The expansion of jack apparatus I4 has
55 thus been brought back to zero. In the course
of a subsequent movement of the blocks it will
increase; a further amount of resin will then be
injected into jack apparatus I5, and so on.
The two jack apparatus might be disposed in
60 side a block of concrete poured around them, as
above described with reference to Fig. 8. This
arrangement can, of course, be utilized for one
or several jacks.
As a matter of fact, the jack apparatus ac—
65 cording to the invention are adapted to a great
number of applications. As above explained,
they permit of maintaining permanent compres
sion stresses in reinforced concrete constructions
or parts of constructions in such manner as to
70 oppose the formation in this material of detri
mental tractive stresses, and this is a very im
portant application of the jack apparatus ac
cording to the invention. From this point of
view, they can be utilized independently of the
preliminary tensioning of the concrete reinforce manner as to permit the simultaneous tensioning
75
ments or in combination with this tensioning for
the production of which they can be utilized.
The apparatus according to the invention also ,
permit of creating horizontal eiforts between the
joints oi.’ structures, for instance between the
Joints or big dams for neutralizing the stresses
resulting from sliding of the ground along the
side of a hill.
I may take advantage of the ?tting in position
of the jack apparatus in these joints for ensuring 10
?uidtightness thereof. -
Fig. 12 shows an arrangement which can be
utilized for this purpose. I have shown, in this
?gure, in horizontal section, two blocks II of a
dam, separated from each other by a joint I0. 15
In this joint or packing device, I place a series
of jack apparatus 9 according to the invention.
These jack apparatus transmit their pressure to
blocks I'I through wedges I9 and cushions 20» of
a plastic material such as rubber, bitumen and 20
asbestos, etc. A metal sheet 2|, bent and held
between wedges I9 and blocks I‘I, ensures ?uid
tightness.
In Fig. 13, the jack apparatus is applied to the '
tensioning of a group of rectilinear reinforce 25
ments IOI of a concrete or masonry block I02.
Reinforcements are anchored at one of their ends
I03 in the block and, over the remainder of their
length they are free in a cylindrical chamber I04
provided in the course of the construction of the 80
block. The jack apparatus that is utilized in
cludes, as shown by Figs. 14 and 15, two ?at
rings I05 and I06 of a malleable metal the edges
of which are connected two by two through tore
shaped peripheral elements I01 and I08. The 35
annular jack apparatus thus formed has, at its
central part, an aperture I09 through which the
reinforcements to be tensioned can be passed,
and it is ?tted, on one of the peripheral tore
shaped elements, with an inlet conduit IIO for 40
the introduction of the liquid matter under pres
sure.
In Fig. 13, I have shown three of these jack
apparatus 01, v2, v3, superposed with the interposi
tion of wedges III which can be made of con 45
crete or any other suitable material. After the
?tting in position of these jack apparatus, the
mass of concrete H2 in which the upper ends
I I3 of the reinforcements to be tensioned are an
chored is poured above the upper jack apparatus. 60
When the concrete of mass I I2 has set and hard
ened, I simultaneously expand all of the jack ap
paratus, which move mass “2 away from block
I02, thus tensiom'ng the reinforcements. The
number of jacks to be employed varies of course 55
according to the expansion of these jacks and
according to the value of the elastic elongation
which is to be undergone by the reinforcements.
The tension of the reinforcements can be
maintained by the solidi?cation of the matter 60
injected into the jack apparatus and, if neces
sary, as soon as the jack apparatus have acted,
it is possible to pour concrete between block I02
and the anchoring head III. I may provide in
this head channels such as Ill, which will serve 85
to ?ll the chamber I00 oi the reinforcements
and the central opening of the jacks with con
crete.
If it is desired subsequently to eliminate the
tensioning oi the reinforcements, it su?lces to
destroy one or several of the intermediate wedges
III Which are made su?iciently thick for per
mitting to reach them between the jacks.
The jack apparatus may be designed in such
 2,226,201 5
of several groups of reinforcements. Thus, it is out any welding by drawing a malleable metal
seen, in Figs. 16 and 17, that a jack may be pro such as copper, steel or the like, or it can also
vided .with four holes "9a, "9b, I090, "I911 be made of two parts welded together on the
through which four groups of reinforcements to edges at I30, I3I, as in the case of Figs. 19 to
5 be tensioned IlMa, IIMb, IMc, Illld can be passed. 21. The same is true of caps I26 which can 5
The tensions imparted to the reinforcements be made of a single piece by stamping orcan be
may be equal or unequal according to the ar made of two parts welded together along their
rangement of the cables, which is determined as Y edges.
a function of the desired distribution of the ten The use of weldless tubes, tested. before they
10 sions, account being taken of the fact that the are ?tted in position, eliminates or reduces the 10
center of gravity of the reactions exerted by the risks of bad working of an element at the time
cables on a jackcoincides with the'center of of in?ating. .
gravity of the surface of action of the jack. Of course, it is possible to make use of several
The jack apparatus according to the inven superposed annular jack elements or several su
15 tion afford a solution of the di?icult problem of perposed ring segments, which permits of in- 15
tensioning the reinforcements of blocks of cir creasing the expansion of the jack apparatus and ‘
cular section. As a matter of fact, it is possible also the safety.
to disposev a series of such jack apparatus be This arrangement is also well adapted to the
tween the block to be compressed and the circu tensioning of helical reinforcements or even of
20 lar reinforcements to be tensioned. However, it reinforcements having the shape of any desired 20
is more advantageous to make the jack in the curve, the tension obtained at each point being
form of a ?attened tube, which can easily be inversely proportional to the radius of curvature
housed between the block and the reinforcement. at this point. ‘ '
For instance, in the embodiment “of Fig. 18, I The jack apparatus permits of'obtaining the
25 have shown in section a block of concrete H5 in tensioning of circular reinforcements, not only 25
the form of an annulus of revolution having its on the outside of a block but also on the inside,
axis at A-—A. Each of the circular reinforce which is a very considerable advantage. This
ments of this block to be tensioned is constituted last mentioned case is that considered by Fig. 18.
by a plurality of spires II 6 of a metalliccable, In the case in which the block is hollow and the
30 wound on one another, preferably on the inside circular rings to be tensioned are near the inner 30
of a ring II‘! of U-shaped section which can also surface of the block, it is advisable to connect
form a part of the reinforcement. Between this them with the remainder of said block through
ring II‘! and the block, there is interposed an an suitable reinforcements, for instance helical re
nular jack apparatus according to the invention. inforcements wound around the circular rein
35 This apparatus can be made, for instance, by forcements. ‘ 35
assembling along their edges, through tore In order to limit the risks of leakage, I may mix
shaped elements H8, H9, two cylindrical annu with the liquid matters used for in?ating the jack
lar parts, concentric and coaxial I20, I2I. Inter apparatus substances such as wood ?our, kiesel- ‘
mediate wedges I22, I23 of reinforced concrete guhr, or others capable of ?lling a crack.
40 or any other matter are provided on either side I have also found that re-in?ating ofv the jack 4"
of‘ the jack apparatus. ’
apparatus in the course of its use can be obtained
When the reinforcements to be tensioned are by making a hole through the feed conduit into
to be embedded on the inside of the block to be
compressed and placed under tension after pour the hardened matter and injecting ‘through this
hole a new amount of liquid matter under a high
45 ing of the whole of the block, I arrange the pressure which can be of several hundreds of kilo- 45
whole of the jack and the reinforcements inside
a sleeve or casing I24 leaving the space neces grams per square centimeter. This matter, under
sary for the increase of diameter of the rein high pressure, forms a paththrough the hardened
forcement when the jack is in?ated. This jack is matter by causing it to burst, and the jack appa
50 ?tted with an in?ating conduit I25 which-can ratus is thus rein?ated.
be reached both from the outside and the in When it is not possible to drive a hole through 5°
. side of the block or only from the inside or the the conduit which‘ has been used for initially in
outside. . ?ating the jack device, it su?ices to provide a
The jack apparatus may consist of a complete hole at an accessible point of the jack apparatus
55 ring or it may be formed of a plurality of ele and to drive thereinto a conical needle, provided, 55
mentary jacks each in the form of an annular in the direction of its axis, with a passage through
segment and which are placed end to end. This which the liquid matter is injected under high
pressure.
last mentioned arrangement is advantageous
from the point of view of safety and protection Besides, when leakage occurs in a jack appa
60 against leakage of the liquid matter, when the ' ratus, at an accessible point‘thereof, it is pos- 60
jack apparatus is in?ated. If, in this case, one of sible to repair on the spot by electric or blowpipe
the jack apparatus happened to leak, the others welding by taking the precaution of driving a hole
keep working and the only consequence of the in the wall of the device close to the point to be
leakage is an increase .of the expansion‘ of the repaired, for the escape of the gases or vapours
65 elements adjoining the defective element. given 011’ by the ?lling matter, this hole being 65
The ?attened tube which forms each of the subsequently closed by a conical spindle driven
segments and the transverse section of which is with a hammer.
visible on Fig. 20 can be closed at‘ its ends by A leak can also be stopped by matting oi’ the
covering it with a kind of flat cap I26 provided metal or tightly applying thereon a piece of suit
70 with a horse-shoe-shaped peripheral element I21 able shape, with the interposition of a plastic
joint. . ‘ 7°
which connects the edge elements I28, I29 of the
?at tube. The cap and the tube are assembled The jack apparatus according to the invention
together in a ?uidt?ight manner, for instance by can be employed for compressing not only solid
welding at mm. blocks but also liquid, pasty, or powdery masses,
75 The tube can be made of a single piece with_ such as concretes, earth formations and the like. 75
By providing the jack apparatus on the inside of
 6 2,226,201
these masses,-I obtain their setting in compres
sion directly, without requiring elements for the
transmission of pressure. The external deforma
tion of said masses can be limited or prevented,
either by means of solid blocks or by means of
envelopes, or by a combination of these two
means, the compression of said solid blocks or
the setting in tension of the envelopes of the com
pressed materials being in this case obtained in
10 addition. >
In particular, the jack apparatus according to
the invention can be applied with a great facility
for modifying the state of equilibrium of earth
formations, sands, muds or clays. They can thus
15 be given the form of elongated plates which will
be lowered into the ground by beating, either
between two plates of suitable shape, or by giving
them a suitable resistance to beating, or by in
jection of water, or in any'other way.
This method will permit of opposing, in some
cases, the settling of ground formations under
the effect of certain weights such for instance
as those of buildings, of compensating for settling
in some constructions, such as ground dams, and
so on, of compressing the ground formations
under masonry structures, of ensuring the ?uid
tightness of a ground formation, of restoring the
equilibrium of a construction, or bringing it back
to a desired level.
30 In these applications, it would be too expensive
to ?ll the jack apparatus with synthetic resin.
The apparatus can be ?lled either with concrete,
in particular fused cement injected by means
of a pump, or with sand, easy to introduce by
35 driving it by means of water under pressure, ac
cording to known methods.
The same jack apparatus can be applied with
advantage instead of explosives, when operating
on great masses of rocks with a view to removing
40 them or cutting them into portions. The jack
apparatus will then be introduced into holes or
grooves provided in the rock to be cut into ele
ments, and they are ?xed with respect to the rock
walls by means of hydraulically settled ?ne sand
or cement. They permit of developing pressures
as high as 1000 atmospheres and even more, ca
pable of producing the breaking and the displace
ment of rocky blocks of very big size, without
shocks capable of altering the masses to be cut
50 into parts or of producing disturbances in the
vicinity.
In these various applications, it may be advis
able to cause the jacks to act on the inside of a
bore hole of very small size, and it is advanta ‘ feed conduit carried by said tore-shaped element ' 65
55 geous that the jacks, when expanded, may have a
volume as great as possible.
A jack apparatus according to the invention in?ating
which complies with this condition is illustrated bination, a malleable metal bag including two
by Figs. 22 and 23. Its wall is provided, after plates constituting the bearing faces of the jack ' 60
(ill it has been in?ated, with a great number of
folds or the like I33 which are inscribed inside each of them, in registering position for these
a cylinder I34 of a diameter corresponding to the
application that is being considered, for instance two
» the introduction of the jack apparatus into a cy
65 lindrical bore-hole. It will be readily understood - , said plates, and at least one feed conduit opening
that, in the course of the gradual in?ating of such
a jack, these folds or projections disappear and
the section becomes that of a circle of large di
~ ameter. Near the ends of the jack apparatus, the
m folds diminish gradually until they form a per
fectly cylindrical wall l34a, as shown by the in
clined line B C, in Fig. 22. Each of the cylin
drical ends 1340. can be closed by means of a
cover I35 welded at I36. One of these covers can
76 be provided with a feed tube I31 for the introduc-v
tion of the in?ating matter into the jack appa
ratus.
In Fig. 22, the dotted lines I38 diagrammati
cally illustrate the form of the deformable wall,
after it has been in?ated.
In Fig. 23, I have also shown at I38 2. ?lling
of reinforced concrete or another matter in the
folds of the wall which communicate with the
outside. This ?lling, which can be replaced by
metallic bars for instance, is intended to stiffen
the apparatus after it has been in?ated, whereby
it can be driven into the ground.
The in?ating can be obtained by means of
water and, after it has been in?ated, the jack
apparatus can be ?lled with gravel or concrete 15
introduced, for instance, under pressure by means
of an intermediate pressure chamber.
The circonvolutions of the wall can be ob
tained by bending the metal sheets in a machine
and subsequently assembling them by welding, 20
for instance along the outer ridges of the cir
convolutions.
In a general manner, while I have, in the above
description, disclosed what I deem to be prac
tical and efficient embodiments of the present 25
invention, it should be well understood that I
do not wish to be limited thereto as there might
be changes made in the arrangement, disposi
tion and form. of the parts without departing
from the principle of the present invention as 30
comprehended within the scope of the appended
claims.
What I claim is:
l. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including two 35
plates constituting the bearing faces of the jack
and deformable means forming a ?uidtight joint
between said plates, and at least one feed con
duit opening into said bag so as to permit of
in?ating it. . 40
2. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including two
plates constituting the bearing faces of the jack
and at least one‘ deformable tore-shaped ele
ment interconnecting the corresponding edges 45
of said plates in a ?uidtight manner, and at least
one feed conduit opening into said bag so as to
permit of in?ating it.
3. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com- _
bination, a malleable metal bag including two 60
plates constituting the bearing faces of the jack
and at least one deformable tore-shaped element
interconnecting the corresponding edges of said
plates in a ?uidtight manner, and at least one
and opening into said bag so as to permit of
it.
4. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
and provided with at least one hole formed in
plates, for the passage of elements to be ten
sioned, deformable joints interconnecting in a
?uidtight manner the corresponding edges of 65
into said bag so as to permit of in?ating it.
5. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including two
plates constituting the bearing faces of the jack 70
and deformable means forming a ?uidtight joint
between said plates, and two feed conduits open- ‘
ing into said bag close to each other, so as to
, permit of in?ating said bag with a matter which
is initially ?uid and hardens subsequently when 75
 2,226,201
introduced into said bag, and of introducing and
withdrawing, at will, a small amount of a matter
which remains ?uid, around the openings of said
two feed conduits into said bag.
6. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including two
horizontal plates constituting the bearing faces
of the jack, one of said faces forming a bell-like
chamber in its central face, and two feed con-‘
10 duits opening into said chamber, so as to permit
of in?atingsaid bag with a matter which is in
itially ?uid and hardens after its introduction
into said bag, and of introducing and withdraw
ing, at will, a small amount of a matter which
15 remains ?uid, in said chamber.
7. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, two malleable metal bags including each
two substantially parallel plates and deformable
means forming a ?uidtight joint between said two
20 plates, said plates being arranged in parallel re
lation and interconnected so as to transmit
thrusts from one to the other, means for feeding
a ?uid capable of remaining permanently in the
?uid state to one of said bags, and means for
25 feeding a matter in the ?uid state and adapted
to harden subsequently to the other of said bags.
8. A system adapted to form a joint between
two structure elements, which comprises, in com
bination, at least one jack interposed between
said elements and constituted by a malleable
metal bag including two plates forming the bear
ing faces of the jack and deformable means
forming a ?uidtight joint between said plates, and
at least one feed conduit for-a liquid under pres
sure opening into said bag, so as to permit of
in?ating said bag, intermediate pieces on either
side of said jack interposed between said plates
and said structure elements, packing means made
of a plastic material caught between each of said
41' intermediate pieces and the corresponding struc
ture element, and a rounded metal sheet having
its edges caught between said intermediate ele
ments and said structure elements, so as to cover
the joint in a ?uidtight manner. ‘ 18. A method of utilizing a jack apparatus in
9. A system for forcing two blocks away from
each other, which comprises, in combination, at
least one jack constituted by a malleable metal
bag including two plates forming the bearing faces
of the jack, deformable means forming a ?uid
tight joint between said plates and means for
feeding a liquid under pressure into said bag, and
at least one wedge-shaped piece associated with
said jack so as to transmit the thrust thereof to
one of said blocks, whereby, once the blocks have
been ?xed to a distance from each other, it is
possible, by withdrawing said wedge-shaped piece,
to remove said Jack from between said blocks.
10. A system for forcing two blocks away from
each other, which comprises, in combination, at
least two jacks in series, constituted each by a
malleable metal bag including two plates form
ing the bearing faces of the jack and deformable
means forming a ?uidtight joint between said
plates, and means for feeding a liquid under
pressure into said bags, said two bags being ar
ranged with their plates in parallel relation, and
concrete embedding said two jacks so as to inter
connect them.
11. A lack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including‘ two
parallel cylindrical plates constituting the bear
7
ing faces of the jack and deformable means
forming a ?uidtight joint between said plates,
and at least one conduit opening into said bag
for feeding a liquid under pressure. thereinto
so as to permit of in?ating it. . 8
12. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com
bination, a malleable metal bag including two
parallel cylindrical plates constituting the bear
ing faces of the jack, deformable tore-shaped
elements forming ?uidtight joints between the 10
corresponding edges of said cylindrical plates,
and at least one conduit openinginto said bag
for feeding a liquid under pressure thereinto so
as to permit of in?ating it.
13. A jack apparatus which comprises, in com 15
bination, a plurality of elementary malleable
metal bags including each two parallel cylindri~
cal plates constituting the bearing faces of the
jack element, and deformable means forming a
?uidtight joint between said plates, at least one 20
conduit opening into each bag for feeding a liq
uid under pressure thereinto so as to permit of
in?ating it, said elementary bags being so dimen
sioned and arranged that the whole forms a com- '
plete annular jack system. ' 25'
14. A jack apparatus according to claim 13 in
which said deformable means consist of tore
shaped elements.
15. A jack apparatus which comprises, in
combination, a malleable metal bag constituted 30
by a ?exible wall folded annularly in zig-zag
fashion whereby the whole, when not in?ated, is
inscribed in a circular section of a diameter
much smaller than the diameter of the unfolded
structure, and means for feeding a liquid under 35
pressure into said bag for causing it to expand.
16. A jack apparatus according to claim 15
further including hard elements inserted in the
’ inner folds so as to stiffen the whole.
17. A jack apparatus according to claim 15 40
further including hard concrete‘ bars ?lling the
inner folds of said folded wall, so as to stiil’en
the whole. , '
cluding two parallel plates assembled in a ?uid 45
tight manner by deformable joint means, which
comprises injecting into said structure a matter
which is initially ?uid but hardens after a time.
19. A method of utilizing a- jack‘ apparatus
formed by‘a malleable metal bag including two 50
parallel plates assembled in a ?uidtight manner
by deformable jointmeans, which comprises in
jecting into said has a matter which is initially
?uid but hardens after a time leaving a small
free space in said bag, and completing the ?lling 55
of said space by means of a liquid which remains
permanently in the liquid state.
20. A methodof utilizing a jack apparatus
formed by two malleable metal bags each consti
tuted by two parallel plates assembled in a ?uid 60
tight manner by deformable joint means, said
bags being superposed with respect to each other, a
which comprises injecting a permanent liquid
into one of said bags, until a predetermined pres
sure is reached therein, then injecting into the 65
other bag a matter which is initially ?uid but
solidi?es subsequently, so as-to permit the ?rst
mentioned liquid to escape from the first bag,
and so on,
EUGnNE FREYSSINET. 70
Jan. 20, 1942. E. FREYSSINET 2,270,240
ANCHORING OF TENSIONED CABLES IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTIONS

Filed Feb. 1, 1941

.
Q
My

BY
 Patented Jan. 20, 1942
2,270,240

“UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE

'‘ ANCHORING ‘OF TENSIONED CABLES IN
. CONCRETE CONSTRUCTIONS ‘

Eugene Freyssinet, Neuilly~sur-Seinc, France

Application February 1,1941, Serial No. 377,040
' ‘ In France August 26, 1939
14 Claims.
I have already shown that the characteristics terial of the construction-t0 be subjected to
‘ of various constructions of this nature can be preliminary stresses. The said member is pro
considerably ‘improved by utilizing reenforce vided with a ‘cavity through which the cable
ments of steel having a high elastic limit sub passes; the elemental wires or strands of this
jected initially to strong tensile stresses which cable are spread out against the inner surface of
3.1
produce in the construction a set of preliminary the cavity, they are then put under tension and,
stresses opposite in direction to those produced while they are so strained, they are pressed
by the application‘ of loads (see U. S. Patent against the inner surface of the cavity with sum
2,080,074). The tensile strain may be imparted cient compressive force to produce between said
to the reenforcements before or after‘the setting 10 wires or strands and said surface a friction
of the concrete. In the latter case, the reen capable of counterbalancing the tension of the
forcements, composed of cables or bundles of high wires and thus to prevent the sliding of the ten
resistance, drawn out, steel wires,'are laid out in sioned wires in the concrete. '
hollows left in the concrete to this effect. These It is preferable to increase this compressive
reenforcements,- which in this case, do not adhere force to such a value that it will produce'an
to the concrete, vare subjected to tensile stresses elastic expansion of the wall of the cavity which
when using the hardened concrete as fulcrum for condition will contribute to holding the wires
the tensioning devices. _ fast.
A di?iculty of this well known process, lies in The compression of the wires of the cable
the anchoring members to be established on the against the inner surface of the cavity can be
Wires or cables under tension to prevent sliding obtained by means of metallic wedges or pegs
of the latter in the concrete. driven in by a jack or by a hammer in the axis
To this effect, steel or concrete gripping mem of the cable or between its wires, or by hydraulic
bers have already been devised comparable to jacks composed of a sort of malleable bag which
those used in the anchorage of the cables of sus can be in?ated by the injection under pressure,
pension bridges and consequently exterior to the in the liquid state, of a substance capable of ulti
construction, the tension in the reenforcements mate hardening such as synthetic resin.
being obtained by the use of jacks acting be One method of obtaining this condition con
tween‘ these vgripping members and the main sists in embedding the wires-.of the cable, against
' part of the construction. These devices are ex- ?‘ the inner surface of the cavity, while these wires
pensive and the space they occupy prevents 'an are under tension, in a substance adhering to the
extension. of their application to current con_ wires and capable of hardening, such as cement
structions such as bridges or buildings. - mortar to which it is pro?table to mix silicious
My present invention has for its object to pro or aluminous sand and asbestos to increase the
vide gripping memberswhich, among other ad- 53‘ friction of the wires on the mortar. Then a
vantages, eliminate all projections exterior to . strong compression of this mortar against the
constructions of concrete or other materials sub inner surface of the cavity is obtained by intro
jected to preliminary compression‘stresses. ‘ ‘ ducing into the latter a suitable instrument. It
This process is'particularly applicable to con~ is advisable to line the inside surface of the cavity‘
structions of concrete when the tensile strain is “ with a metallic lining and to put grease or an
imparted to the reenforcements after the setting equivalent lubricant between the said lining and
of the concrete, although it can also be utilized the inner wall of the cavity in~ order to reduce
in constructions other than concrete or in con the friction. The cavity having the shape of a
crete constructions when theylreenforcements are ‘truncated cone, and the compression of the mor
, strained before the setting of the concrete. tar being obtained by a male cone wedged in the
‘In what follows, only the‘ application of the axis of the cable, the'slipping, which tends to
‘process to ‘concrete will be considered for the occur on the greased surface as a result of the
sake of simplicity, it being understood that the tension of the wires when tensioning apparatus
other applications ‘fall within the scope of the
if) is released, compresses still more the mortar and
invention. ‘ increases the anchorage of the wires.
The general principle of my new process is as The body‘ containing the cavity of which the
follows: In the construction, at the point where cable is held fast may be constructed in reen
the extremity of the cable to be strained is lo forced concrete; in this case, the cavity where
cated, a very resisting element or member is em the cable is held fast will be hollowed out in
bedded in the concrete or in whatever other ma the concrete itself and the inner surface of
 2 2,270,240
this cavity will be made capable of resisting the siderably reenforced longitudinally is poured be
stresses of expansion by embedding in the con tween a tube I‘! (the axis of which lies along
crete a steel reenforcement which encircles the that of the cable) and a conical casing of smooth
cavity and is put in place before the concrete‘ and polished sheet steel I8 enclosed in another
is poured. vThis reenforcement may consist of :3 casing l9 made of brass or tin plate. A conic
a steel tube or of helicoid turns of steel wire, casing 20, also made of tin plate or brass, is
having preferably a ‘high elastic limit or~ of a inserted in member 6, the surface of contact
combination of such'a tube and turns of wire ‘between member 8 an dcasing 20 being lubricated
wound about it. v - so as to obtain a coefficient offriction of the
’ In order to obtain an eifective transfer to the order of 5 to 10%. The piston 2| of a jack bears
concrete of the strains borne by the said reen upon washer l2 and is provided with sixteen
forcement, it is possible to provide a second radial slots 2la which allow the wires of the
transverse reenforcement of the concrete and cable to pass by pairs. This piston 2| contains
composed either of a second coil formed by a an ‘auxiliary piston 22 bearing upon cone l8.
steel wire, helically wound and located at a cer Cylinder 23 of piston 2| has sixteen anchoring
tain distance from the ?rst one, or of rectangu jaws 24 each one of these receiving two-wires of
lar reenforcements perpendicular to the axis of the cable which are separated by an intermedi
the cable. ate wedge 21 (a front view of which is seen on
My invention also comprises the apparatus Figure 4 between the projections 28 and 29
necessary to the practical realization of my which make up the anchoring laws).
process. The concrete slab 2 comprises moreover a
_ The appended drawing, purely illustrative, and number of turns 25 of ordinary soft steel and
not inclusive of all cases, represents various em a set of reenforcements 26 parallel to the cable.
bodiments of my invention. The cable with its sheath having been cor
Figure 1 represents a transverse sectional view ~ rectly placed in the molds of the construction,
of the cable and of its sheath according to a the extremity of the cable having been passed
?rst way of realization, the section being cut at a through casing 20 which lines the inside of the
point located beyond the anchorage. hollow member 6, and ?nally the coils 3 and 25
Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional being in place, the concrete 2 is poured.
view of this cable. » 30 Once the concrete has hardened, the wires of
Figure 3 is a longitudinal half sectional view the cables are separated by pairs and made to
of the anchoring device and of the tensioning pass between washers l2 and i4 and in the slots
jack at one end of the construction. of plate I3, which fastened by bolts, holds
\Figure 4 is the front view of a group of 2 in place the whole ?xture.
wires and of an anchoring jaw on the jack. Then, cone IS with its tube l1, its casing I8
Figure 5 is part of the front view of a slotted and the second casing 19, are inserted into the
washer perpendicular to the cable, the function central hollow of the cable, and fresh plastic
of which is to separate the wires prior to their mortar containing silicious sand or asbestos is
. tensioning. packed into the interval between casing l9 and
In the practical example represented on Fig 40 casing 20. By means of the jack, the piston 2i
ures 1 to 5, the cable to be tensioned and an of which bears, through the medium of washer
chored comprises 2 layers of wires or strands 8 l2, on the concrete surrounding tube 6, the steel
and! (having in all an even number of wires wires, held fast by pairs on the anchoring jaws
or strands, 32 for example) grouped around a 24 of the cylinder of this jack, are tensioned; the
core consisting of a long pitch helicoid spring . cylinder drawing away from the concrete when
I. It is enclosed in a sheath composed of, for pressure is admitted into the cylinder.
example (Fig. 1) two metallic sheets ‘I, ‘la, hooked Then, the wires being kept under tension, pis
one to the other by bending back their edges. ton 22 is made to drive in cone IS, the metallic
This sheath is put in place in the molds be casing !3 then sliding on casing H! with a mod
fore the concrete of the construction is poured 50 erate friction of metal against metal. The cone
and serves to insulate the cable with regards produces an intense compression of the mortar
to the concrete in order to allow the elastic between casings i9 and 20 of the order of 400 kg.
elongation of this cable at the moment of ten per square centimeter in the particular exam
sioning, even if at this moment the concrete ple which the drawing illustrates. '
has already set and hardened. ' ' The mortar loses its excess 'water and becomes
As can be seen in Figure 3, the extremity very hard, and a high value is obtained for the
of the cable penetrates into a truncated steel friction angle of the mortar on itself and on the -
member 6 provided with a funnel-shaped cavity steel; at the same time, the mortar takes up a
and hooped by a hardened steel wire 3 having, minimum volume.
for example, an elastic limit superior to 35 kg. When the pressure in the cylinder of the jack
per square millimeter. This part 6 and the coil is released the tension in the steel is entirely
3 are embedded in the concrete 2 poured about transferred to that part of the device composed
them. A concrete tight junction ID, of tape for of cone l6, casings i8 and I9, and the mortar
example. joins part 6 to sheath ‘I to prevent between l9 and 20 and casing 20. This ensem
the concrete from penetrating into this part and ble attracted by the tension then slides along
into this sheath. At the end of the slab of con the lubrified surface between tube 6 and casing
crete 2, there is a thick steel washer l2 the pur 20, which condition produces a very strong grip
pose of which is to sustain the thrust of the ten ping eifect of the mortar on the wires of an ap
sioning jack and to transmit it to the concrete. proximate value of 800 ‘to 1000 kg. per square '
A slotted plate I3 a portion of which figures in - centimeter. This gripping effect obtains a per
the front view ‘on Figure 5 and which is ?xed fect bond between the mortar and the wires, the
by bolts l5 embedded in the concrete is coupled angle of friction between surfaces 6 and 20, in
to a hoop-iron washer M which maintains the creased by the slope of the cone, being inferior
wires of the cable by pairs in the slots of plate to the inner friction of the wires on the mortar.
iii. A cone I6 of very hard mortar and con The elastic swelling of tube 6 and of coil 3 com
 r

2,270,240 3
presses the concrete which lies between coils 3 struction at the place where ‘the said‘ extremity‘
and 25 and so transmits the strains developed in is- located. the setting of the group of wires in
the anchorage to the whole reenforced slab‘by this cavity, the spreading out of the wires against
means of reenforcements 25, 26. Jack 2|, 23 may . the inner surface of the said cavity, the tension~
then be removed and those parts of the wires - 'ing'of these‘wires by an external force, the em
which jut" out from the construction may be cut bedding of the tensioned wires in a pasty sub
oil‘. Then, through the centrally located tube II, stance adhering to the wires and capable of
a substance protective against rust may be in hardening, then the compressing of this sub
jected such as liquid cement, a synthetic resin stance, after its hardening, against the inner
capable of setting, or any other ?ller; it is even H) surface of the cavity, after which the said ex
possible by these means to establish a bond‘ be ternal force is removed. ‘
' tween the wires and their sheath. A warm sub 3. The process for anchoring the extremity of
stance, easy to melt, such as bitumen or a resin, a group of steel wires constituting a reenforce
may be injected after having heated the interior » ment of a concrete construction or the like which
‘of the cables by injecting hot air or steam, comprises: the provision of a funnel-shaped cav
The function of the core composed of the heli ity, in the construction, at the place therein
coid spring I is to ensure the possibility of this where the extremity of the group is located.
injection and the regularity of the cable itself in the said funnel-shaped cavity having its larger
the curves which. it assumes. opening facing the said extremity, the setting of '
My invention is not con?ned only to the case _ the group of wires in this cavity, the spreading
where the tensioning occurs “after hardening of out of the wires against the inner surface of
the concrete. The concrete in which the reen this cavity, the tensioning of these wires, by an
forcements under tension are embedded can be external force, then the compressing ‘of these
poured after the tensioning of these reenforce tensioned wires against the surface of the said
ments, on condition that supports for the an— cavity by a compression adapted to produce an
chorage heads are available during this tension elastic deformation of the wall of the cavity, after
ing; these supports can be on the molds or on a which the said external force is removed.
portion of the concrete slab in which the reen 4. The process for anchoring the extremity of
forcements are not embedded and which is a group of steel wires constituting a reenforce
vpoured in advance, and which has already hard 30 ment of a concrete construction which com
ened at the time of the tensioning. ‘ prises: the provision of a funnel-shaped cavity,
It is obvious that the embodiments which have in the concrete at the place therein where the
just been described constitute only examples and said extremity is located, the said funnel-shaped
' that these can'be departed from without affect cavity having its larger opening facing the said
ing the scope of the invention. extremity, the reenforcing of vthe wall of this
For example, in the case when the reenforce ,cavity by means of a reenforcement embedded
ments are tensioned after the setting and hard in the concrete about this cavity, the setting of
ening of the concrete, the sheath insulating the . the group of wires in this cavity, the spreading
reenforcement with respect to the concrete may out of the wires against the surface of the said
consist merely of a plain coating of a greasy sub 40 cavity, the tensioning of these wires by an ex
stance or of a plastic one of low melting point, ternal force, then the compressing of the ten
basically composed of bitumen, pitch or rubber sioned wires against the surface of the said cav
' and which is applied to the wires and protected ity by a compression adapted to produce an elas
if need be by swathing with paper or other ?bres. tic expansion of the said embedded‘steel reen
This plastic substance of low melting point may forcement, after which the-said external force
be softened at the true of the tensioning by is removed. '
means, for example, of an electric current sent 5. The process for anchoring the extremity of
throughout the reenforcements. a group of steel wires constituting a reenforce
My invention is applicable‘to the case where ment of a concrete construction which com
the elements of the cable to be tensioned are prises: the provision of a funnel-shaped cavity,
constituted by strands or groups of wires in lieu in the concrete at the‘place therein where the
of single wires. The word "wire” in the follow said extremity is located, the said funnel-shaped
ing claims is intended to cover as well as a sin ‘cavity having its larger opening facing the said
gle wire properly speaking a strand or a group extremity, the reenforcing of the surface of this
of wires. cavity by means of steel embedded in the con~
What I claim is: - crete about this cavity, the setting of the group
l. The process for anchoring the extremity of of wires in this cavity, the spreading out of the
agroup of steel wires constituting a reenforce Wires against the surface of the said cavity, the
ment of a concrete construction or the like which tensioning of these wires by an external force,
comprises: the provision of a cavity in the con then the compressing‘ of the tensioned wires
struction at the place where the said extremity against the surface of this cavity by means of
is located, the setting of the group of wires in at least one wedge inserted in the cavity with
this cavity, the spreading out‘ of the wires a force adapted to produce an elastic expansion.
against the ‘inner surface of the said cavity, the of the said embedded steel after which the said
tensioning of these wires by an external force, external tensioned force is removed.
then the‘ compressing of the tensioned wires 6. The process for anchoring the extremity of
against the surface of the said cavity by a com a group of wires constituting a reenforcement
pression adapted to produce between the wires of a concrete construction which comprises: the
and the said surface a friction capable of with provision of a funnel-shaped cavity in the con
standing the tension of the wires, after which the creteat the place wherein the said extremity is
said external force is removed. located, the said funnel-shaped cavity 'having
2. The process for anchoring the extremity of its larger opening facing the said extremity, the
a group of steel wires constituting a reenforce reenforcing of the surface of this cavity by means
ment of a concrete construction or the like which of a steel coil embedded in the concrete about
comprises: the provision of a cavity in the con- ' this cavity, the setting of a hollow funnel-shaped
4 >
part in the interior of the said cavity, the pro
vision of a lubricant between the said part and
the surface of the cavity, the setting of the group '
of wires in the ‘interior of the said hollow part. forms therewith a hollow frusto-conical body in
the spreading out of the wires against the inner Cl anti-frictional contact with the walls of the cav
surface of the said hollow part, the tensioning
of these wires by an external force, the embed
ding of the tensioned wires in a cement mortar
adhering suitably to the wires and poured in the
said hollow part, then the compressing of_'this
mortar after its hardening, against the surface -
of the cavity, by means of at least one wedge
inserted in the said mortar with a force adapted
“to produce an elastic expansion of the said coil
after which the said external force is removed.
7. A device for anchoring a group of tensioned
wires constituting a reenforcement of a concrete
construction, the said device comprising in com
bination: a concrete part in which is provided
;a funnel-shaped cavity, the inner surface of
which surrounds the extremity of the wires, the
said cavity having its larger opening facing the
exterior‘of the construction,‘ asteel reenforce
ment embedded in the concrete about the said
cavity and means in the said cavity adapted ‘
to compress the wiresagainst the, surface of the
said cavity whereby the steel constituting the
said embedded reenforcement is elastically ten
sioned. . '
8. The process of simultaneous tensioning and
anchoring of a group of steel wires constituting
a reenforcement of a concrete construction which
comprises the setting of a hollow, funnel-shaped,
steel shell over the extremity of the said group,
the larger opening of the said hollow shell fac
ing the exterior of the ‘construction, the pouring
of the concrete about the said hollow shell, the
spreading out of. the wires against the inner sur
face of the said shell, the setting of at least one
Wedge in the said shell, the tensioning of the
wires after the hardening of the concrete, by
applying an external tension to the extremity
which projects out from the concrete, using the
said concrete as fulcrum, then while maintaining
this external-tension, the driving in of the wedge
towards the smaller opening of the said hollow
shell by a force adapted to produce an expan
sion of the said shell, after which the said ex
ternal tension is removed. ,
9. In a concrete or similar structure, in combi
nation, a mass of concrete or the like, a longitudi
nally tensioned reinforcement passing there
through and comprising an elongated member _
having a divided end portion comprising a plu
rality of strands, the mass of concrete adjacent .
one surface being provided with a cavity sur
rounding the stranded end of said reinforcement,
sa"d end being ?ared by the spreading out of the
strands and embedded in an adherent plastic
material which prevents relative movement be
tween the strands and which forms therewith a
hollow body in contact with the walls of the
cavity, and means exerting pressure in a direction
generally radially of the axis of the member and
forcing saidbody firmly against the walls of said
cavity. . frusto-conical body.
10. In a concrete or similar structure, in com
bination, a mass of concrete or the like, a longi
tudinally tensioned reinforcement passing there
through ,and comprising an elongated member '
having a divided end portion comprising a plu
rality of strands, the mass of concrete adjacent
one surface being provided with a conical out
wardly ?ared cavity surrounding the stranded
end of said reinforcement, said end being ?ared
H 2,270,240 '
by the spreading out of the strands and embedded
in an adherent plastic material which prevents
relative movement between the strands and which
ity, and a conical wedge exerting pressure in a di-'
rection generally radially of the axis of the mem
ber, disposed in anti-frictional contact with said
body and forcing said body firmly against the
walls of said cavity. '
11. In a concrete or similar structure, in com
bination, a mass of concrete or the like, a longi
tudinally tensioned reinforcement passing there
th'rough and comprising an elongated member
having a divided end portion. comprising a plu
rality of strands, the‘ mass of concrete adjacent
one surface being provided with a conical out
wardly ?ared cavity surrounding the stranded
end of said reinforcement, reinforcement means
for the wall of said cavity, said stranded end be
ing ?ared by the spreading out of the strands and"
embedded in an adherent plastic material which
prevents relative movement between the strands
and which forms therewith a hollow frusto-coni
cal _body/ in contact with the walls of the cavity,
and means exerting pressure in a direction gen
erally radially of the‘ axisof the member and
forcing said body ?rmly against the walls of said
cavity.
12. In a concrete or similar structure, in com
bination, a mass of concrete or the like, a longi
tudinally tensioned reinforcement passing there
through and comprising an elongated member at
least an end portion of which is divided into a
plurality of strands, the mass of concrete ad
y'acent said end portion of the reinforcement be
ing provided with a conical outwardly ?ared cav
ity surrounding said end portion and with a
metallic reinforcement embedded in said concrete
40 near the wall of said cavity, said end-portion be
ing ?ared by the spreading out of the strands,
means disposed between the spread strands and
which forms therewith a substantially rigid
frusto-conical body, said body being pressed ?rm
ly against the wall of the cavity and tending to
produce an elastic expansion thereof.
13. In a concrete or similar structure, in com
bination, a mass of concrete or the like, a longi
iudinally tensioned reinforcement passing there
through and comprising an elongated member
having a divided end portion comprising a plu
rality of strands, the mass of concrete adjacent
one surface being provided with a conical out
wardly flared cavity surrounding the stranded
end of said reinforcement, said end being ?ared
by the spreading out of the strands and embedded
in an adherent plastic material which prevents
relative movement between the strands and
which forms therewith a hollow frusto-conical
body in contact with the walls of the cavity.
means exerting pressure in a direction generally
radially of the axis of the member and forcing
said body ?rmly against the walls of said cavity.
and metal sheathing covering the walls of said
cavity and both the inner and outer walls of said
‘
14. A device for anchoring a group of tensioned
wires constituting a reinforcement of a concrete
construction. the said device comprising incom
bination, a concrete part in which is provided a
funnel-shaped cavity, the inner surface of which
surrounds the extremity of the wires, the said
cavity having its larger opening facing the ex
terior of the construction, a metallic reinforce
ment embedded in the concrete about the said
 2,270,240 , 5
cavity, means in, the said cavity adapted to com from, whereby the annular portion of the mass of
press the wires against the surface of the said concrete between the 'two reinforcements is
cavity whereby the metal constituting the said placed under greater compression than the rest
embedded reinforcement is elastically tensioned, of the concrete part when said ?rst named rein
and a. second metallic reinforcement embedded in 5 forcement is tensioned.
said concrete part, disposed about said first
named reinforcement, and spaced radially there EUGENE FREYSSINET.
March 20? 1945. E. FREYSSINET 2,371,882 ~
TENSIONING AND ANCHORING 0F CABLES IN CONCRETE 0R SIMILAR STRÚCTURE '

Filed Feb. l, 1941

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_ Patented Mar. -20,- 1945
2,371,882 '

UNITED STATES PÄTENT oFl-?icE

TENSIONING AND ANCHORING 0F CABLES
. 1N_ CONCRETE 0R SIMILAR, STRUCTURES
Eugène Freyssinet, Neullly-sur~8eine, France:
vested in the Alien Property Custodian
application February 1, 1941, serais». :11,041
In France October Z8, 1940 '
s claims.' (ci. ‘za-5o)
It is well known that the characteristics of re wires and ñnally the releasing of the tension ex
enforced concrete constructions are vconsider erted by the jack, the tension- of the wires is
ably improved by artificially submitting the re maintained bythe wedßing. in the female c'one.
enforcements to preliminary tensile stresses sum of the male cone composed of the wires and the
ciently high in order that the concrete is subject wedgesl pressed one against the other.
ed to permanent compressive strains (see my U. S. 'I'he anchoring arrangement comprises then es
Patent No. 2,080,074). The tension may be lm sentially a tunnel-shaped cavity, the inner Sur
parted to the reenforcements either before the face of which is capable of withstanding the
setting of the concrete, or after its setting and stresses of expansion imrted to it by the wedg- .
hardening, on condition that, in the latter case, ing of the male cone, and means for transferring
provision be made for suitable means to prevent to the concrete to be compressed that component
the adhesion of the steel to the concrete, in order of these stresses which is parallel ,to the cable.
to allow the elongation of this steel embedded in It may be made up, for example, of an element
the set and hardened concrete. _ of cast steel, embedded in the concrete, compris
Such reenforcements are frequently constituted ing, in the first place, a funnel-shaped cavity the
by means of steel wire cables having a high elas inside of which is machined to obtain the desired
tic limit. In general, the devices used for ten- shape and, in the second place, one or more sur
sioning and anchoring comprise projections exte faces bearing on the concrete, of sumcient ares
rior to the concrete to be compressed, and do not to subject the concrete to sustainable stresses.
allow the compressive stresses to be increased be-- But the same results may be obtained more '
yond a certain maximum which is very much less economically by having recourse to means proper
than the resistance of the concrete to be com to reenforced concrete. The truncated cone may
pressed. f ` -
be hollowed 'out in the concrete itself and the
My invention has for its object a process and wall of this cavity rendered capable of resisting
a device for tensioning and anchoring cables, said v25 the stresses of expansion by embedding in the
device being incorporated in the concrete to be concrete a first reenforcement which may con
compressed without requiring any projection or sist in a truncated tube or in a. coil formed by
addition to the concrete for the purpose of con- , ' helicoid turns of steel wire, having preferably a
cealing the anchorings. This device allows more high elastic limit, or in a combination of both
over the increasing of the preliminary stresses to means. The transmission of the strains from
the yielding point of the concrete. y this first reenforcement or coil to the concrete to
This process is applicable in particular to pre be compressed may be ensured by a second trans
stressed concrete constructions in the case where verse reenforcement of the concrete in which it
the tension is imparted to the reenforcements is embedded. This second reeniorcement con.-
after the setting of the concrete, although it can 35 sists, for example, of a coil of'steel wire helically
also be utilized in constructions other than- con wound and located at a certain distance from
crete or in concrete constructions when the re the ñrst one. ,
' enforcements are tensioned before the setting of In order to ensure a better achievement of the
the concrete. . - truncated aperture or cavity, it is possible to pour
In what follows, only the application of the in advance concrete slabs, each provided with a
process to concrete will be considered for the sake cavity and with the reenforcing coil or coils.
of simplicity, it being understood that the other These slabs may contain one or more anchoring '
applications also fall within the scope of my in cavities.
vention. one- or more of these anchoring members are
According to one practical application of this embedded in >the concrete of the construction
process, an anchoring member which can be em which concrete can, in the proximity of the an
bedded >in the concrete to be , compressed and choring members, be additionally reenforced or
which presents a funnel-shaped orifice, the subjected'to preliminary stresses, perpendicular
smaller base of which faces the length of cable to ly to the anchoring to be obtained.
be tensioned, is utilized in combination with a set 50 The appended drawing, purely illustrative and
of wedges placed between the wires of the lcable not inclusive of all cases, represents various em
which wires are pressed down against the wall of bodiments oi my invention.
the said oriûce, s'o that after the tensioning of Figure 1 is an axial sectional view of a portion
theV wires by means of a :lack or other instrumen of a concrete anchoring slab constructed in con
tality, the pressing of the wedges between the formity with my invention. ' This ligure shows
 2 2,371,882
also a sectional view of a part of an hydraulic spread out and pressed against the inner wall
jack utilized in tensioning a cable. a-b of the truncated cone and between these
Figures 2 to- 4 are transverse sectional views wires steel wedges 8 are set. The sides of these
along axes II-II, III-III and IV-IV of Fig. 1. wedges are provided with cylindrical grooves la
Figure 5 represents a fragmentary plan view corresponding to the shape of the wires, so that
of the device utilized for the fixation of the wires these wedges, inserted between the wires are
to the ,i ack. maintained by the latter and ‘form together with
Figure 6 shows a fragmentary sectional view them a sort of male cone which comes to bear
showing another embodiment of an anchoring against the inner wall af--b of the female cone.
block. 10 For the operation of tensioning, in the case un
Figure 7 shows diagrammatically in longitudi der consideration, an hydraulic Jack is utilized,
nal section one extremity only of a pre-stressed the piston 9 of which can bear against head 2.
concrete beam, provided with anchoring blocks This piston is provided with slots l0 equal in
constructed in accordance with my invention. _ number to that of the wires of the cable and
Figure 8 represents a sectional view of a pre used for the passage of the wires, whereas the
stressed concrete beam provided with these an cylinder II comprises devices for the fastening
choring blocks. of these wires. These devices consist in trape
In the example illustrated by the drawing, the _ zoidal slots I2 provided on a rim I3 of the cylin
application of the anchoring device to the ten# der I_I and of wedges I4 which are inserted in
sionlng of the reenforcements of a concrete con 20 these slots between two wires of the cable; the
struction has been presumed to occur after the number of slots is consequently equal to half the
setting and hardening of the concrete. Each re number of wires, which condition requires, in
enforcexnent. composed of a cable. is set in a this embodiment, the use of cables having an
sheath I which is set in place in the molds be even number of wires.
fore the pouring of the concrete and serves to in In the interior of piston 9, a second piston
sulate the said reenforcement from the concrete I5 may displace itself and come to bear on the
in order to allow the elongation of the reenforce extremity of wedges 8 by means of a small plate
ment. ' l I6 provided with slots for the passage of the
This sheath may consist of a tube of steel or of wires. Piston 9 is provided with a hollow Il the
other material, preferably thin sheet steel rolled diameter of which corresponds to that of the
into a cylindrical shape, and clasped by bending small plate.
back the edges. It may even consist merely of The jack being disposed as shown in Fig. 1
a plain coating of a greasy substance or of a and pressure being admitted in cylinder II,- this
plastic one of low melting point, basically com cylinder draws away from piston 9 and tensions
. posed of bitumen, pitch or rubber which is ap wires l. The wedges follow the movement of the
plied to the wires. This coating can be protected wires at the start until they run against plate
by swathing with paper or other fibres impreg I6, they then leave between themselves suillcient
nated with substances of the same nature. clearance to allow the wires, pulled by cylinder I I,
Each extremity of a reenforcement or only one , to slide freely.
of the extremities, if the other be securely fas In zone b-c of the anchoring head, the wires
tened to the concrete by any well known anchor press against the concrete of this head and to
ing system, is inserted in the anchoring slab or limit their friction, this zone is lined -by a casing
block, which is going to be described with respect I8 of tinplate for example. ì
to Figures 1 to 5. When the tension stress, which can be de
This slab or block comprises a high-resistance 45 termined from the pressure in cylinder II, at
concrete mass 2, having therein an aperture or tains the desired value, the pressure is maintained _
cavity the contour of which is generated by a in the cylinder, and piston I5 is put under pres
complete revolution of the straight line af-b sure. The latter obtains a compression of the
about the axis :Iz-_x, which forms with line a-b wedges between the wires by expanding the male
an angle having a tangent of approximately 5’5, 60 cone and by compressing it against the inner
the said straight line being joined to the gener wall of the female cone.
ant of tube I parallel to axis :c-œ by a curve The pressure in the two jacks may then be
b-c. released, the wires withdrawn from slots I2 of
About the wall of the ori?ce so formed, a steel the jack and the latter removed; the anchoring
reenforcemcnt 3 is embedded in the concrete 2. thus being finished. The tensioned cable. sub
This reenforcement may be composed of heli jected no longer to any external force, wedges
cold- turns of asteel wire having a high elastic the male cone composed of the Wires and of the
limit so that the coil thus formed can resist the wedges in the female cone. The wires could,
strains to which the wall of the cavity is subject as a matter of fact, slip between the wedges only
ed in operation. In the example described, the du if the angle of friction between wedges anf‘
slab or block has the form of a solid of revolu wires fell below a value ß such that tan.
tion composed of a head 2a and of a prolonga
tion 2b having the shape of a. truncated cone
which is joined to the extremity of sheath I by a
junction Ia of tissue or of paper impregnated a being the value of 1%; the angle at the top of
with a plastic substance, such as tape. About the cone and n the number of wires.` Butl this
the head 2a, the concrete is reenforced by a sec angle ß is chosen much smaller than the angle
ond coil 4 which may be of soft steel. of friction which renders slipping impossible
The concrete 5 of the construction or of the regardless of the condition of the surfaces of the
piece to be built is poured about tube I and about 70 Wires and of the wedges and even if these sur
the block taking care to allow provision for a faces were abundantly greased. The pressures
hole 6 through which it will be possible to have between wedges and wires are, besides, of such
access to the extremity of the cable (passing magnitude that the grease, if there were any,
through head 2) from the exterior of the con would be completely driven away.
struction. The wires 1 composing this cable are u In order that the anchoring may resist it_
 2,371,882 > 3

is therefore sufficient that the wall of the female the tensioning is effected after hardening of the
cone withstand the tension of the cable and b concrete.
able totransmit it to the concrete. . ' The concrete in which the tensioned reenforce
It is at `this point that the purpose of the hard ments are embedded may be poured only after
steel coil 3 appears. It must bear the stresses the tensioning of these reenforcements, on con
which make with the axis of the cone an angle dition that fulcrums for the anchoring blocks be
which is the sum of the angle at the top ’of the available while the tensioning is in process; these
cone and of the angle of friction steel on concrete. fulcrums can be chosen on the molds or on a por
Under the action of the tensioned cable, there tion of the concrete of the construction in which
results, finally, an equilibrium between the de the reenforcements are not embedded, which
formations of coils 3 and l, of the concrete 2 concrete is poured in advance and has already
and that of the underlying concrete 5, an equilib hardened prior to the tensioning.
rium which allows a relatively large deforma For example, in the case of a beam having a
tion of coil 3, a relativelyv much smaller de cross-section as represented on Figure 8, it is
formation of coil 4 and a triple compression possible, after setting in place reenforcements d
stress accompanied by a plastic deformation of and the anchoring blocks, to pour first the con
the concrete 2 with the production of isostatic crete represented by the hatchings in which con
lines such as UV, XY. crete the reenforcements are embedded only at
In that portion of the concrete where the head the extremities of the beam. When this concrete
bears on the concrete 5 of the construction, this 20 has hardened, those reenforcements, the an‘èhor
concrete may be profitably reenforced by rectan ing blocks e of which utilize the said concrete, as
guiar reenforcements. fulcrum, may then be tensioned. Once the ten
It is to be noted that nothing prevents the sion and anchoring operations are completed, the
jack from being set in place for operation a rest of the concrete (see the dotted lines in Fig.
second time; the wires may be tensioned again 25 8) may be poured about the tensioned reenforce
by means of the jack, the wedges loosened, the ments d. y
initial tension increased (or even reduced, if a The device for tensioning and anchoring con
means for preventing the wedges from jamming structed according Ato my invention also odors a
by themselves be provided). So the tensioning _ practical means of obtaining, by tensioned re
operations may be effected in a progressive man 30 enforcements, a uniting into a single structure of
ner, they may be rectified, in case of error, etc. distinct concrete pieces laid out end to end for
Once‘the tensioning has been completed, hole example. The tensioning of the reenforcements
t may' be stopped up by concrete, and the ex which will be placed for example in the holes
tremities of projecting wires embedded in con provided in these pieces, will result in their com
crete which ñils up a small recess provided for- in 35 pression one against the other.
the mass subjected to preliminary stresses, which it is obvious that the embodiments which have
process oñers the advantage of an additional just been described constitute only examples and
security by opposing the vslipping of the wires that these can be departed from without affect
against the wedging means. ing the scope of the invention. The invention is
Figure 6 shows a cast steel anchoring block 2a applicable not only to the case where the ele
provided with a female >cone 2b, the surface 2c, ments of the cable to be tensioned consist in sim
2d of which block bears on the concrete and ple wires, but also to the case where these ele
transmits the strains developed by the tensioned ments consist of strands or of groups of wires.
cable. This _anchoring block» is utilized in the In the claims hereunder, the word “wire” must
same manner as that described for the concrete 45 be understood as designing not only a single wire
slab. properly speaking, but also a group of wires or a
Figure ‘7 shows the extremity of a beam pro
strand.
What I claim is:
4vided with reenforcements d set in sheaths, the l. A process for anchoring an end of an elon- _
reenforcements being tensioned and anchored as 50
has just been described. The anchoring heads gated reinforcement for a structural member,
e are located at the extremities of the reenforce which reinforcement includes a group of wires,
ments in the housings provided for, prior to said process ‘comprislng, providing a funnel-`
the pouring of the concrete. shaped cavity in said structural member with its
larger end facing outwardly away from the mem
The block may have also a square or rectangu-`
ber, inserting said reinforcement wires within
lar cross-section and comprise anchoring devices said member with portions adjacent the ends
for several cables. In this case, coils ‘i may be thereof Within said cavity, spreading out the
, replaced by rectangular. reenforcements perpen- wires in spaced relationship against the wall of
dicular to the cable. the cavity, tensioning the wires by the applica
In the case where the cables are embedded in
a plastic substance of low melting point, this sub 60 tion of an external force, and forcing wedges be
tween each pair of adjacent wires, the force ap
stance may be softened at the time of the ten plied to the wedges being sufficient to produce
sioning by means, for example, of an electric cur enough friction between the wires and the wedges l
rent sent throughout the reenforcements. to withstand the ,tension in the wires, after which v
It can be seen, in the process described, that 65 said external force is discontinued.
the jack which tensions the wires uses, as a ful 2. A process for anchoring an end of an elon- ,
crum, the concrete which constitutes the final gated reinforcement for a concrete member,
anchoring, so that the temporary tension (dur~ which reinforcement includes a bundle of wires,
A ing the tensioning operation) and the final ten said process comprising, providing a funnel
sion are both directed along the same axis and 70 shaped cavity in said concrete member with its
act on the same substance, which conditions al larger end facing outwardly away from the mem
low the compressing of the entire surface of the ber, lining the wall of the larger end of the cav
concrete to a maximum stress consistent with its ity with reinforcing metal inserting said rein
resistance. forcement wires within said member with por
The invention is not limited to the case where 75 tions adjacent to the ends thereof disposed within
 4 aaneen
the larger end of said cavity, spreading out the being spread against the surface of said larger
wires in spaced relationship against lining of the end of the cavity, and wedges forced between
larger end of the cavity, tensioning the wires by each pair of adjacent wires in a manner to ten
the application of an external force, and apply sion the wires around the wall of the cavity.
ing wedges between each pair of adjacent wires, 6. A concrete or similar structure, according
with 'sufficient force to produce an elastic expan to claim 5, wherein said tubular metal reinforce
sion in the metal lining and sufiicient friction be ment consists of a helically wound hard steel
tween the wedges and wires to anchor them in wire.
place, after which said external force is discon 7. A concrete or similar structure having
tinued. . means for anchoring the extremity of a bundle
3. A process for anchoring an end of an elon of tensioned wires constituting reinforcement of
gated reinforcement for a concrete member. said structure, said means comprising, in com
which reinforcement includes a bundle of wires, binatìon, a concrete block embedded in said struc
said process comprising: enclosing said wires ad ture and provided with a funnel-shaped cavity
'jacent their ends within a hollow funnel-shaped serving as a housing for a portion of said bundle
steel member, said hollow member having its of wires adjacent to the extremity thereof, said
larger opening facing in the direction of said cavity having its larger end facing in the direc
ends, pouring concrete about said hollow mem tion of said extremity and away from said struc
ber, spreading out the wires in spaced relation ture, a steel reinforcement lining the wall of the
ship against the inner surface of the hollow 20 larger end of said cavity, a second steel rein
member, placing wedges between eacn pair of forcement embedded in the block and spacedly
adjacent wires, tensioning the wires after the' surrounding said lining and located adjacent to
hardening of the concrete by exerting a tensile the outer periphery of said block, bearing sur
stress on their extremities which project out from faces on said block facing said structure in a
the concrete using said concrete as a fulcrum, 25 direction away from said extremity of the bundle
then while maintaining the tensile stress, apply of tensioned wires and arranged to transmit com
ing the wedges toward the smaller end of said pressive strains to the structure under the in-'
hollow member between adjacent wires with suf iìuence of the tension in said wires, said wires
ncient force to produce an elastic expansion of being deñected to lie along the lining( in circum
said hollow member and suincient friction be 30 ferentially spaced relation, and wedges forced
tween the wedges and wires to anchor them in between each pair of adjacent wires in a manner
place', after which said external tensile stress is to tension said lining.
discontinued. 8. A, concrete or similar structure having
4. In a concrete or similar structure, in com means for anchoring the extremity of a bundle
bination, a mass of concrete or the like, a longi 35 of tensioned wires constituting reinforcement of
tudinally tensioned reinforcement passing there said structure, said means comprising, in com
through and comprising an elongated member bination, a concrete block embedded in said
having a divided end portion comprising a plu structure and provided with a funnel-shaped
rality of strands, the mass of concrete being pro cavity serving as a housing for a portion of said
vided with a conical outwardly flared cavity sur 40 bundle of wires adjacent to the extremity thereof,
rounding said strands, said strands being spread said cavity having its larger end facing in the
to engage the wall of the cavity in circumferen direction of said extremity and away from said
tially spaced relationship, and wedges forced be structure, a steel reinforcement lining the wall
tween each adjacent pair of strands in a, manner of the larger end of said cavity, a second steel
to hold the strands tofrictionally engage with reinforcement embedded in the block and
the wall of the cavity. \ spacedly surrounding said lining and located ad
5. A concrete or similar structure having jacent to the outer periphery of said block, bear
means for anchoring the end portions of a bundle ing surfaces on said block facing said structure
of tensioned wires constituting reinforcement of in a direction away from said extremity of the
said structure, said means comprising, in com bundle of tensioned wires and arranged to trans
bination, a concrete part having a funnel mit compressive strains to the structure under
f shaped cavity therein, the wall of which sur the influence of the tension in said wires, said
rounds said bundle of wires adjacent the said end wires being deflected to lie along the lining in
portions, said cavity having its larger end facing circumferentially spaced relation, and wedges
in the direction of said end portions and away , forced between each pair of adjacent wires and
from said concrete structure, a tubular metal forcing the wires against said lining with suf
reinforcement embedded in said concrete part ficient pressure to place said lining and the sur
and spacedly encircling said cavity, said rein rounding concrete .under tension.
forcement being tapered oppositely to and sur
rounding the larger end of the cavity, said wires 60 EUGÉNE magasiner.
Nov. 1s, `195.2 E. FREYSSINET 2,618,147
MEANS ANCHORING TENSIONED CABLE FOR PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
Filed June 8, 1945

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Patented Nov. 18, 1952
2,618,147

UNITED STATES il
f .
.
TENT OFFICE
2,618,147
MEANS ANCHORING TENSIONED CABLE FOR
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
Eugène Freyssinet, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Application June 8, 1945, Serial No. 598,313
In France September 30, 1941
Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946
Patent expires September 30, 1961
5 Claims. (Cl. 72-50)
l
In my prior U. S. Patent No. 2,270,240, I have on a smaller scale, of a hoop disposed around
described means for anchoring tensioned cables the anchorage block.
passing through concrete masses to which they Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a wedge.
do not adhere. The cable to be anchored is Fig. 4 is a cross section of a modified wedge.
passed through a Very strong tube embedded in Referring to Fig. 1, the reference character l
concrete and strongly adherent thereto, then the designates cable wires accommodated in a sheath
cable is tensioned by extraneous means, and a 2 positioned before pouring concrete 3, as dis
soft substance capable of hardening, such as ce closed in my prior patent. At either end of the
ment mortar, is compressed very tightly between cable or, at one end thereof should the other end
the cable component wires and the inner wall of be provided with usual anchoring means, an an
the tube; in the case where the tube provides a choring unit or block manufactured beforehand,
generally frusto-conical or ñaring recess, com and to be presently described is secured. The
pression is obtained for instance by means of a block includes a substantially cylindrical mass 4
wedge forced into the recess along the axis there of high grade concrete having a soft steel hoop
of. The purpose of cement mortar was to provide 15 5 near its periphery, and a substantially frusto
for an even action on the various wires in spite conical recess 6 along- the axis of the cable to
of fortuitous diameter dilferences; however, I be tensioned, through which the cable wires pass.
have found that the mortar is not altogether nec The inner wall of the recess is lined with a hoop
essary to serve the purpose aimed at. 'I consisting of contacting coils of hard steel hav
It is an object of my invention to provide im 20 ing a high tensile strength, around which con
provements in or modifications of my aforesaid crete ll is poured. The block thus constituted is
anchoring means. threaded on the cable end before pouring con
Instead of being lined by a steel tube as dis crete 3 and secured to the planking. Around the
closed in my aforesaid patent, the wall of the block is disposed a hoop connsistingI of a wire 8
frusto-conical or flaring recess in concrete may 25
which is festooned in zig-zag fashion, and a few
merely be lined with a hoop of hard steel having coils 9 as shown in development on a smaller
a high tensile strength, the hoop being made of scale on Fig. 2.
contacting coils. The conical wedge forced along Concrete 3 is then poured. When said con
the recess axis may be a mass of concrete pro crete has set and hardened, the planking is taken
vided with an outer hard steel hoop or steel 30 away and a wedge I0 is forced into the recess
sheet; such outer coatings providing for regu along its axis; the wedge I0 (Fig. 3) may be
larization or even distribution of compressional made of high strength concrete II cast into the
forces from the wires on concrete in the wall of annular space between a central tubular steel
the recess and the wall of the wedge so as to pre core I 2 and a frusto-conical hoop I3 having con
vent damage to said concrete but they allow an 35 tacting coils of hard steel. By means of a, jack
amount of plastic deformation of the combina device as described in my prior patent, the outer
tion of parts, which secures an even action on ends Ia of wires I are drawn to be tensioned as
the various Wires as a hydraulic distribution required, after which the wedge I0 is driven into
would do. the recess so as to squeeze the cable wires be
It is possible to manufacture a separate an 40 tween the wedge and the recess wall.
chorage unit or block made of concrete having a Owing to the squeezing action, hoop ‘I is sub
frusto-conical recess lined with a hoop embedded jected to a high stress causing a resilient de
in said concrete and a second hoop of soft steel formation thereof, and concrete 4 of the anchor
proximate to the periphery of the concrete mass; ing block is compressed between said hoop 'I and
the blocks may be positioned at proper location 45 hoop 5 which is also stressed although to a less
in the planking when the cables are placed be degree. Hoop 8, 9 acts to distribute through
fore pouring concrete. concrete 3, the forces transferred to the outer
The following description with reference to hoop 5 of the anchoring block.
the appended drawings given solely by way of Anchoring is thus performed; the jack device
example will show how this invention may be 50 may be removed and the ends Ia of wires I cut
carried out. away.
Fig. 1 is an axial section taken along the axis Through the central core I2 in Wedge I0, a
of a cable and showing an anchoring device in rustprooñng material may be injected into
accordance with my invention. sheath 2 for instance cement, synthetic resin or
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic development drawn 55 any other ñlling. material.
 2,618,147
3 4
In the modiñed wedge shown on Fig. 4, a steel tion within said bundle to nip said steel wires
sheet I4 is substituted for hoop I3; sheet I4 may between said Wire-contacting walls and having its
be provided with corrugations Ida located along outer surface conformed to the general shape of
generating lines of the cone, for accommodation the inner surface of said Wire bundle, at least one
of the cable Wires. of said- uni-tsy comprising a- plastical‘lyV deformable
The plasticity of the outer conical Wall and of concrete portion in ring formation adjacent said
the wires (of the cable) themselves are sufficient Wire-contacting wall thereof.
-to provide for anchorage of all Wires in spite of 2. The structure of claim 1, said Wedge having
any small difference in diameter thatY they may . a core of plastically deformable concrete confined
p exhibit. in said. Wire-contacting Wall thereof.
An advantage of my process is that the Wires 3. The structure of claim 1, the coils of Wire
can be tensioned by degrees or steps; after ar first forming the wire-contacting Wall of said Wedge
tensioning, the jack may be mounted again, the comprising> a spiral.
wires drawn, the Wedge removed and then reset 4. The structure of claim 1, including a metal
after increasing or decreasing tension. In the 15 tube positioned axially in said wedgeand periph
latter case, it is only necessary to hold the Wedge erally spaced apart from said wall thereof, and
apart from its ñnal position by any suitable a. body of concrete confined between said wall and
device. f » said metal tube.
While I have described; What I deem to be an 5`. The structure of claim 1, said annular struc
eñ‘lcient and reliable embodiment of my inven 20 ture being reinforced in its outer portion to resist
tion, I do not Wish to be limited thereto as many bulging. ` `

alterations may be brought therein without de EUGENE FREYSSINET.

parting from the spirit of the appended claims.
What I claim is: REFERENCES CITED
l. In combination With an open-centered bun The following> references are of record in the
dle ofV stretchedA steel Wires, a pair of cooperating file of this patent:
gripping units for maintaining said wires in UNITED STATES' PATENTS
stretched condition, which comprises an annular
concrete structure through which said wires ex Number Name Date
tend, having a daring, inner, Wire-contacting Wall 30 453,286 Lieb _____________ __ June 2, 1891
2,173,698 Schenk _________ __ Sept. 19, 1939~
providing a backing for said wires, said inner,
2,264,035 Birkhofe-r ________ __ Nov. 25,1941
wire-contacting Wall being faced with mutually 2,270,240 Freyssinet ________ -_ Jan. 20, 1942
contacting coils of Wire, and a ñaring wedge hav
ing an outer peripheral surfaceA of mutually con FOREIGN PATENTS
tacting coils of. wire providing a Wire-contacting Number Country Date
Wall, said wedge being held in> compressed condi 5451,43? Great' Britain ____ __ Nov.Y 26, 1941
Aug- 24, 1954 - E. FREYSSINETV _ 2,686,963
METHOD OF ANCHORING REINFORCEMENTS
Filed Sept. 15, 1948

‘ a Inn/enrol!

IL, wMM,M1-wm;w
 Patented Aug. 24, 1954‘
2,686,963

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,686,963
METHOD OF AN CHORING
REINFO'RCEMENTS
Eugene Freyssinet, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Application September 15, 1948, Serial No. 49,377
Claims priority, application France April 27, 1948
2 Claims. (Cl. 29-525)
1 2
I have already described in my prior Patents Fig. 4 is a transversal cross-section of this
No. 2,270,240 and No. 2,618,147 an arrangement arrangement including the tightening wedge.
for anchoring previously stressed reinforcements, Fig. 5 is a transversal cross-sectional view at
more particularly suitable for cable reinforce a larger scale of one of the recesses provided in
ments. ‘
the wedge for the armature strands. Figure 5a
This arrangement includes, in register with the is a view similar to Figure 5 illustrating the ideal
. end of the cable,‘ a frusto-conical wall operatively condition existing after the wedge has ben plas
connected to the mass to which a preliminary tically deformed.
stress is to be given and against which the strands The wedge illustrated in ‘the drawings is con
of the reinforcing cable to be anchored are 10 stituted by a frusto-conical body I of molded con
strongly fastened by a frusto-conical wedge en crete showing a high resistance to compression,
gaging it under high pressure. This wedge may the granular structure and the composition of the
be constituted by a casing of sheet metal or by concrete. being carefully chosen in order to
a hoop of hard steel ?lled with concrete and it achieve this result while the molding may be
may include an axial tube allowing the injection 15 carried out, as well known per se, under vibratory
under pressure of the protecting cement into the conditions and under compression. The frusto
‘ recess provided for the reinforcement in the mass conical surface of the wedge thus obtained is left
submitted to a preliminary stressing. bare, in other words it is not enclosed in a sheath
My invention has for its object improvements or binding or hoop of steel as described in my
in the anchoring means wherein the wedge is con 20 prior patents referred to hereinabove. In said
stituted by concrete without any outer casing frusto-conical wall of the wedge, it is sometimes
enclosing it, the fastening of the reinforcing desirable ‘to provide, in the casting, recesses 2
strands being performed through direct contact directed substantially along generating lines of
with the concrete of the wedge so as to bene?t to the wedge and the number of which corresponds
a maximum by the plastic deformation of the 25 to that of the strands of the reinforcement to! be
concrete obtained by pressure, so as to secure a anchored, each recess showing cross-sectionally
uniform tightening of the various reinforcing the shape of a half-cylinder a—-b—-c the diameter
strands even if the diameters of these strands of which is substantially equal to that of the
show substantial differences. strands or slightly greater, sa‘id half cylinder ex
This improvement provides an important ad
30 tending laterally under the form of ?aring sur
vantage inasmuch as it is possible to use for the faces aa', cc’ to further the introduction of the
constitution of reinforcing strands not only drawn reinforcing strands (Fig. 5).
Wire of comparatively regular diameter but also The wedge may be provided with an inner tubu
?laments obtained through extrusion or rolling at lar metal core 3 that may serve for the subse
high temperature or at room temperature and 35 quent injection of cement or of another substance
the variations in gauge of which may be fairly into the channel containing the reinforcement.
large.
The reinforcement being inserted in each chan~
Preferably the concrete wedge is provided with nel 4 provided inside the mass that is to be re
recesses of a substantially cylindrical shape in inforced (Fig. 3) and the different strands of said
tended for the housing of the reinforcing strands 40 reinforcement 5 opening into contacting relation
to be anchored and matching substantially the ship with the wall of the frusto-conical opening
shape of these strands. 6 forming an extension of said channel at the end
The following description and accompanying thereof, the wedge is urged axially into said open
drawings which are employed by way of exempli ing whereby the strands are housed in the various.
?cation and by no means in a limiting sense, will 45 recesses 2 of the Wedge. This introduction of the
show how the invention may be executed and the wedge may be executed by means of a jack already
various features appearing both in the drawings described in my prior patents, said jack allowing
and in the speci?cation form of course part of the a preliminary stress to be given to the reinforcing
invention. In said drawings: strands and keeping them stretched during the
Fig.‘ 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment 50 wedging operation while an extremely high pres
of the wedge according to my invention. sure is exerted on the wedge the reaction of which
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof. pressure is absorbed by the reinforcement itself.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a complete The contacting surface between the wedge and
anchoring system incorporating my improved each strand is considerable as it is formed by the
wedge. ‘
55 entire half surface of the strand. The pressure
 2,686,963
3 4
exerted on the wedge is generally higher than
the rate of resistance of the concrete to compres
sion so that the latter is plastically deformed and
?lls up all the open spaces, as shown in Figure 5a,
that is the spaces remaining open by reason of an
uneven gauge of the reinforcing wires or else
those constituted by the spaces ‘I required for the
correct positioning of the strands with reference
to the wedge.
The wedge concrete is longitudinally bound by 10
reinforcements 8 that may be constituted by mere
nails. The member inside which a frusto-conical
opening 6 is provided, the shape of which matches
that of the wedge, may be a previously cast con
crete member that is then provided with a hoop
wound in tight convolutions over the inner wall
of the opening and the outer wall of the member.
The member considered may also be constituted
by a cast steel body.
This latter case has been illustrated in Fig. 3:
the tubular steel body de?ning the opening 6 is
provided outwardly with projecting flanges 9
adapted to bear against the concrete it of the
reinforced part. The tubular body may include
striations, regular or otherwise, as illustrated at
911 in Fig. 3. In Figure 3, the curvature of the
sleeve 6 has ben exaggerated for ready visibility.
The purpose of the curvature is to avoid having
a sharp bend or angular elbow in the reinforce
ment wires 5, being conventional and having 30
nothing to do with the invention. The wedge,
when deformed, does not completely ?ll the sleeve
9 (unless its size has been accurately determined
for that purpose, but in practice the wedge is
CA
very roughly designed). When the wedge is in
serted into the sleeve, contact between the wires
5 and the surfaces of 5 and I occurs along a rela
tively short distance somewhat along the wedge.‘
As the latter is forced in and undergoes plastic 4
distortion, the contacting zone progressively ex
tends. Eventually, a part of the length of the
sleeve is ?lled.
Obviously, many modi?cations may be made in
the arrangement that has just been described, in
particular by substituting technically equivalent
means for those disclosed, without departing from
the scope of the invention as de?ned in the accom
panying claims.
What I claim is:
1. A method for anchoring reinforcement wires
in a member having an inwardly tapering cavity
along the wall of which portions of said wires are
spread, said method comprising the steps of in~
serting between said portions and in contact
therewith a bare-surfaced wedge of hardened
concrete the general shape of which is that of
said cavity, for engaging said portions between
said wall and the bare concrete surface of said
wedge, and forcing said wedge inwardly of said
member with a pressure suf?cient for causing
plastic deformation of the hardened concrete‘ of
said wedge to the extent that empty space around
said portions is filled with plastically deformed
hardened concrete.
2. A method as recited in claim 1 and further
comprising the step of positioning said wires in
recesses in the hard surface of said wedge.
References Cited in the ?le of this patent
UNITED STATES PATENTS
Number Name Date
985,915 Marchand, Jr ______ __ Mar. '7, 1911
2,371,882 Freyssinet ________ __ Mar. 20, 1945
FOREIGN PATENTS
Number Country Date
424,006 Great Britain _____ __ Feb. 13, 1935
541,160 Great Britain _______ __'___ of 194-1
541,437 Great Britain _____ __ Nov. 26, 1941
561,716 Great Britain _____ __ ‘June 1, 1944