ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and illustrates the basic forms of prestressing and the components used for prestressing. These include the steel tendons used to prestress the concrete, namely the wire, strand and bar, together with the required anchorages, ducts and couplers. The specialised equipment required for stressing and for grouting of the ducts in post-tensioning applications is illustrated, and the basic principles and concepts of the various systems are provided, including illustrations of the individual prestressing operations. The material properties of both the concrete and steel used in the design of prestressed concrete are detailed and discussed in Chapter 4.
