Prestressed structure
Structure which contains permanent stresses to increase overall integrity
In structural engineering, a prestressed structure is a load-bearing structure whose overall integrity, stability and security depend, primarily, on prestressing: the intentional creation of permanent stresses in the structure for the purpose of improving its performance under various service conditions.
The basic types of prestressing are:
- Precompression with mostly the structure's own weight
- Pre-tensioning with high-strength embedded tendons
- Post-tensioning with high-strength bonded or unbonded tendons
Today, the concept of a prestressed structure is widely employed in the design of buildings, underground structures, TV towers, power stations, floating storage and offshore facilities, nuclear reactor vessels, and numerous bridge systems. It is especially prominent in construction using concrete (see pre-stressed concrete).
The idea of precompression was apparently familiar to ancient Roman architects. The tall attic wall of the Colosseum works as a stabilizing device for the wall piers beneath it.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Prestressed structure”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Roman Colosseum With Moon.jpg by Jimmy Walker, CC BY-SA 2.0
- ThreeTwrBrCenter.jpg by The original uploader was Leonard G. at English Wikipedia., CC SA 1.0
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