Prestressed structure
Encyclopedia
Prestressed structure is the one whose overall integrity
, stability
and security
depend, primarily, on a prestressing. Prestressing means the intentional creation of permanent stresses in a structure for the purpose of improving its performance under various service conditions.
There are the following basic types of prestressing:
Today, the concept of prestressed structure is widely employed in design of building
s, underground structures, TV towers, power stations, floating storage and offshore facilities, nuclear reactor
vessels, and numerous kinds of bridge
systems.
The idea of prestressing was, apparently, familiar to the ancient Rome architects; the tall attic wall of the Colosseum
works as a stabilizing device for the wall piers beneath.
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
, stability
Structural stability
In mathematics, structural stability is a fundamental property of a dynamical system which means that the qualitative behavior of the trajectories is unaffected by C1-small perturbations....
and security
Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
depend, primarily, on a prestressing. Prestressing means the intentional creation of permanent stresses in a structure for the purpose of improving its performance under various service conditions.
- Precompression (mostly, with the own weight of a structure)
- PretensioningPrestressed concretePrestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete...
with high-strength embedded tendons - Post-tensioningPrestressed concretePrestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete...
with high-strength bonded or unbonded tendons
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
s, underground structures, TV towers, power stations, floating storage and offshore facilities, nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
vessels, and numerous kinds of bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
systems.
The idea of prestressing was, apparently, familiar to the ancient Rome architects; the tall attic wall of the Colosseum
Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
works as a stabilizing device for the wall piers beneath.