Chapter 2: Effects of prestressing

The function and technology of prestressing is described in many excellent books (Hampe, 1978; Lin and Burns, 1981; Leonhardt, 1964; Navrátil, 2014; Nilson, 1997). Therefore, only basic information is repeated here. Over time the hardware used for prestressing has been well developed by specialist companies (e.g. VSL, Dywidag and Freyssinet), and these provide comprehensive brochures that both describe their products and give information on the structural arrangement, details, analyses and technology of construction. These brochures are available on the manufacturers’ websites.

The design concepts for obtaining durable post-tensioned tendons are presented in fib Bulletin 33: Durability of Post-tensioning Tendons (Fuzier et al., 2006). It is evident that the durability of the prestressing depends not only on the durability of the materials used and on the installation of these materials, but also on the design concept implemented.