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SPRING 2020 | ISSUE NUMBER 271 | POST-TENSIONING to receive future issues at
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FEEL THE TENSION ALSO IN THE SPRING ISSUE …

Post-tensioning is efficient, strong SimpsonHaugh’s One Blackfriars,
and sustainable – here’s your Stanton Williams’ Zayed Centre
essential guide to concept design and more at concretecentre.com/cq
APPLICATION | POST-TENSIONING

High tension: An introduction to

specifying post-tensioned slabs
FIGURE 1: SPAN-TO-DEPTH RATIOS AND RATES FOR POST-TENSIONED FLAT SLABS

Multiple spans (m) 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0

Overall depth (mm)

Imposed load: 2.5kN/m2 200 200 215 240 275 310 340 390 475

IL: 5.0kN/m2 200 210 240 270 300 325 370 400 500

IL: 7.5kN/m2
200 235 270 300 340 375 410 500

IL: 10.0kN/m2 200 275 310 350 390 440 500

Tendons (kg/m2)

Jenny Burridge explores the benefits IL: 2.5kN/m2 3.5 3.8 4.4 5.1 5.7 6.9 7.6 9.2 10.1
and relative costs of one of the most IL: 5.0kN/m 2
4.0 4.6 5.3 6.3 7.1 8.4 9.3 10.8 11.2
efficient forms of construction
IL: 7.5kN/m2 4.6 5.6 6.3 7.3 8.4 9.6 10.4 11.6
Post-tensioning is now widely used as an efficient
way of designing floor slabs in concrete-framed IL: 10.0kN/m2 5.4 6.9 7.8 8.6 9.7 10.7 11.7
buildings. It is a way of putting a pre-compression
Mesh and loose rebar (kg/m2)
into the concrete, in this case after it has been
cast. This means that when the slab is working IL: 2.5kN/m2 14 14 14 15 16 19 20 24 25
under normal vertical loads, spanning between
columns, the tension that would result in the IL: 5.0kN/m2 14 14 15 16 17 19 21 25 26
concrete from bending forces is significantly
reduced by the pre-compression. Since the tensile IL: 7.5kN/m2 15 15 16 17 19 23 24 27

strength of concrete is only about 10% of its

IL: 10.0kN/m2 16 17 18 19 23 24 26
compressive strength, this makes it work much
more efficiently.
In the simplest form of post-tensioning, the Notes on table
concrete is prestressed by putting high-strength 1. These values are mid-range for the options available. It is possible to have slimmer slabs with ABOVE RIGHT At the
tendons in ducts through the slab and tensioning more tendons Newfoundland tower in
the tendons with a jack when the concrete has 2. A depth limit of 200mm has been adopted as this is standard within the industry and gives a Canary Wharf, London,
gained sufficient strength. The tendons are usually fire resistance of up to four hours the overall slab depth was
draped within the depth of the concrete, putting 3. The mesh and loose rebar rates include an allowance for anti-burst reinforcement around the reduced by about 17%,
an additional bending moment into the span, anchorages, bottom mesh, edge reinforcement, punching shear links, top mesh for slabs of with a 75% saving in the
which balances the bending moment from the >375mm for constructors to walk on, pour strips between areas of post-tensioning, construction amount of steel
vertical loads. joints, small amounts of trimming reinforcement around holes. It does not include upstands,
With the requirement for much greater material beams, core connections or couplers
efficiency, post-tensioning is now being used 4. Exposure class XC1 assumed. This covers internal concrete, but not concrete for a car park, for
much more frequently on projects. Post-tensioned example. If higher exposure classes are required then higher rates would be necessary. Eurocode
(PT) slabs are one of the most efficient forms 2 requires that for XD and XS exposure classes bonded tendons should lie within concrete in
of construction, as they enable the two main compression under the frequent load combination
construction materials to work in the most 5. Tendons are assumed to be 12.9mm or 15.7mm Superstrand (Aps = 100mm2 or 150mm2, fpk =
efficient way. Significant savings can be made in 1,860MPa.) Either can be used, but one or other should be chosen, rather than both, on the
comparison with conventional reinforced concrete, same project
equating to about 20% of the concrete and 50% of 6. Concrete is assumed to be C32/40 with fck(t) at transfer of 20.8MPa
the steel in a flat slab. 7. A superimposed dead load of 1.5kN/m2 is assumed with a perimeter load of 10kN/m
Figures 1 and 2 provide engineers with a guide 8. Design is in accordance with Eurocode 2 (BS EN 1992-1-1 and BS EN 1992-1-2) and Concrete
to the sizing and rates that will be required for Society Technical Report TR43, Post-tensioned concrete floors Design handbook
typical flat slabs – a guide that has been agreed by 9. Panels are assumed to be square with three bays in each direction.
specialist designers.

14 | CQ | SPRING 2020
Photo: Nigel Bowles / Alamy Stock

FIGURE 2: SPAN-TO-DEPTH RATIOS, SHOWN AS A GRAPH Benefits

Because they are more efficient, PT slabs are
IL = 2.5kN/m2
thinner than conventionally reinforced equivalents,
600
and smaller floor-to-floor heights can be achieved
IL = 5.0kN/m2 without losing anything from floor-to-ceiling
550 IL = 7.5kN/m2 heights. This produces either lower buildings, with
a consequent saving on the cladding materials,
IL = 10.0kN/m2
services and internal finishes, or enables a greater
500
IL = 2.5kN/m2 number of floors to be accommodated within a
IL = 5.0kN/m2
tall building. For example, Allford Hall Monaghan
450 Morris’ tower at 240 Blackfriars Road in London
IL = 7.5kN/m2 (overleaf) was able to include two additional storeys
400 IL = 10.0kN/m2 within the same building height.
Depth (mm)

The reduction in steel means that PT floors are

also quicker to build than conventional in-situ
350
reinforced concrete slabs, because the time taken
to fix the reinforcement is significantly less. The
300 fixing and stressing of the tendons are additional
work items, but overall the programme is less.
In order to take advantage of the programme
250
savings associated with post-tensioning, the

200

POST-TENSIONING CAN RESULT

150
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IN SAVINGS OF ABOUT 20% OF
Span (m)
THE CONCRETE AND 50% OF THE
STEEL IN A FLAT SLAB
APPLICATION | POST-TENSIONING

ABOVE High-strength tendons RIGHT At 240 Blackfriars

draped within a floor slab, Road in London, the use of PT
waiting for the concrete to be slabs enabled architect AHMM
poured at the Newfoundland to add two storeys without
tower, London increasing the building height

concrete has to have early strength gain so that

the tendons can be stressed shortly after it has
been cast. The concrete for PT slabs has therefore
traditionally been specified with a high proportion
of Portland cement (CEM 1). However, 50% ground-
granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) or 40% fly
ash mixes have also been successfully used to
lower embodied carbon in buildings. The use of high
levels of replacement cements is an issue if the
concrete is cast during winter.
The increased use of PT slabs in tall buildings
was demonstrated by the Post-Tensioning
Association (PTA) project award for 2019.
Three of the shortlisted projects were high-rise
residential buildings where post-tensioning had
been used to increase the number of storeys
for a given building height and to speed up the
construction programme. The award was won by
Praeter Engineering for the Newfoundland tower
at London’s Canary Wharf, where the overall slab
depth was reduced by about 17%, with a 75% saving
in the amount of steel. The reduced size of the
concrete elements led to smaller columns and a
reduction in the size of the piled raft foundation.

Photos: Timothy Soar; Praeter Engineering

Rates
The detailed design of post-tensioning is frequently
done by specialists, but the engineer for the frame
can complete a concept design to size the slab and
estimate the number of tendons and amount of
reinforcement using standard rates.
Since post-tensioning has become more
mainstream, the design of PT slabs has become
even more efficient. The Concrete Centre book,
Economic Concrete Framed Elements, contains slab can be counterbalanced with greater levels The PTA has produced a model specification for
tables for PT slabs and beams. The specialist of pre-compression or a slightly deeper slab. The the procurement of the design of PT floors from
designers within the PTA have found that the drape of the tendon can be modified to give the specialist designers: Model Specification for the
book gives higher rates for tendons with lower most economic or efficient solution. PT systems Design and Performance of Post-tensioned Concrete
rates of conventional reinforcement than would are also very efficient for long cantilevers, as the Floors in Building Structures. It also provides useful
normally be the case. The numbers in the tables pre-tension helps to control deflecton. guidance on the considerations for designers when
have therefore been revised (see Figure 1), with the Figure 1 (previous page) gives a good starting designing PT slabs. A free download is available at
result that PT becomes more cost-effective. point for a scheme design of a PT flat slab, the concretecentre.com.
One of the benefits of post-tensioning is that it most common use of PT in the UK; figure 2 For further information, see Post-tensioned Concrete
is very flexible in the design. The deflection of the presents this information as a graph. Floors, published by The Concrete Centre

16 | CQ | SPRING 2020