Technical Innovations and Their Application in Modern Prestressed Concrete Structures

Prestressing is a core technology in major civil engineering projects. It can help save 20%-30% of steel and concrete and substantially reduce carbon emission to cater to China's strategic needs of resource conservation and environmental protection. Since the beginning of the new century, China has seen an enormous number of construction projects and increasingly complex structural systems. The prestressing technology is facing challenges never seen before.

Through more than a decade of efforts, the prestressing team of SEU has made breakthroughs in a range of fields including prestressed structure theory, damage control, earthquake resistance, disaster mitigation, and nuclear safety. First, they have developed multiple new prestressing systems, developed the world's first force flow model theory of anchorage zones, and established the refined prestress calculation theory. Second, they have overcome several major challenges in fracture and deformation control of large-span and super-long structures, providing a great technical support to extend the service life of engineering structures. Third, they have created the seismic design approach for prestressed concrete structures, provided a systematic anti-seismic capacity evaluation and improvement approach for prestressed concrete structures, and broken through the bottleneck in applying the prestressing technology in earthquake regions. Last, they have developed prestressed nuclear power plant containment shells and cryogenic tanks up to the strictest international safety standards, breaking up the monopoly of foreign companies in the market of prestressed products for energy infrastructure.

The project has established a system of prestressed concrete structure standards in China including 13 national (industrial) standards. Also, it has obtained 17 patents and developed three state-level construction methods. The project achievements have been applied in more than one hundred major projects in over 20 countries including Japan, Czech Republic, and Canada. Besides, the project has created 20-odd national or global records and generated an economic benefit of RMB 4.1 billion in the recent three years. The research results are generally in the leading position in the world, playing a great role in shifting the prestressing center from the western countries to China and building China into a prestressing power.

Selected National Awards

Reward of Natianal Science and Technology Progress - First Prize, 2014		Reward of Natianal Science and Technology Progress - Second Prize, 1998		Reward of Natianal Science and Technology Progress - Second Prize
Reward of Natianal Science and Technology Progress - Second Prize, 2012		Reward of Natianal Science and Technology Progress - Second Prize, 2013		National Award for Technological Invention - Second Prize, 2014