1.

TWO TYPES OF PRESTRESSING

A. PRETENSIONING - The prestressing tendons are initially tensioned between fixed abutments and
anchored. With the formwork in place, the concrete is cast around the highly stressed steel tendons
and cured. When the concrete has reached its required strength, the wires are cut or otherwise
released from the abutments. As the highly stressed steel attempts to contract, the concrete is
compressed. Prestress is imparted via bond between the steel and the concrete. Pretensioned
concrete members are often precast in pretensioning beds long enough to accommodate many
identical units simultaneously. To decrease the construction cycle time, steam curing may be
employed to facilitate rapid concrete strength gain and the concrete is often stressed within 24 hours
of casting. Because the concrete is usually stressed at such an early age, elastic shortening of the
concrete and subsequent creep strains tend to be high. This relatively high time-dependent
shortening of the concrete causes a significant reduction in the tensile strain in the bonded,
prestressing steel and a relatively high loss of prestress.

B. POST-TENSIONING - With the formwork in position, the concrete is cast around hollow ducts
which are fixed to any desired profile. The steel tendons are usually in place, unstressed in the ducts
during the concrete pour, or alternatively may be threaded through the ducts at some later time.
When the concrete has reached its required strength, the tendons are tensioned. Tendons may be
stressed from one end with the other end anchored or may be stressed from both ends. The tendons
are then anchored at each stressing end.