Q. What is prestressing?A. Prestressing refers to the steel tendons reinforcing in the wall panels. Steel tendons are pulled in the form and put in tension prior to the concrete being poured. This pretensioning takes advantage of steel's inherent tensile strength. The concrete is then cast around these pretensioned strands and allowed to cure prior to the strand being cut. The result is that the concrete holds the steel strand in tension continuous along its length while the steel holds the concrete in compression. The net result is the synergy of steel and concrete presenting stronger cross sections than either product is capable of on its own. |
