Prestressed Concrete Design, 1/e

Chapter 1

Basic Principles

1.1 Introduction

Prestressed concrete can be defined as concrete in which internal compressive stresses are deliberately introduced so as to counteract the tensile stresses (and consequent cracking) resulting from external loads to a desired degree. In simple words, a precompressed concrete is known as prestressed concrete. In concrete members, the prestress is commonly introduced by tensioning high tensile steel reinforcements known as tendons.

The advantage of prestressing a structural member can be explained by considering a row of books shown in Fig. 1.1. Though each book is a discrete element, the row of books can be lifted as a single unit by applying axial compressive force C at the ends.

The row of books has ...