Title: Landmark Series: Load-Balancing Method for Designa nd Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Structures

Author(s): T.Y. Lin

Publication: Concrete International

Volume: 26

Issue: 10

Appears on pages(s): 69-101

Keywords:

DOI:

Date: 10/1/2004

Abstract:
On the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, it is only fitting to cite one of the major works of a pioneer in the area of prestressed concrete, the late Professor T.Y. Lin, originally published in the June 1963 ACI Journal Proceedings, V. 60, No. 6. While circular prestressing in containment vessels was being widely utilized as early as the 1920s, linear prestressing became a necessity in the World War II era. Up to the 1960s, most floor slab systems were cast-in-place reinforced concrete. In the 1950s, Lin first introduced prestressed concrete, as we know it today, to the United States. His load-balancing concept for the design of prestressed concrete two-way floor slab systems enabled design engineers to visualize how loads and stresses develop in two dimensions. This hastened the acceptance of two-way prestressing for floors and the accompanying advantages. economy; longer spans; and crack-free, level floor construction. The following partial quote - a parody of Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man - was part of Lin's presentation before the 1957 World Conference on Prestressed Concrete in San Francisco.