Failure pressure evaluation of the containment building of a large dry nuclear power plant

Abstract The evaluation of the failure pressure of the containment building of a large dry PWR-W three loops nuclear power plant, based on computer numerical simulation, is described in this paper. The proposed method considers fully three-dimensional finite element models in order to take into account the effect of the most significant structural characteristics (presence of three buttresses, penetrations, additional reinforcement around the penetrations, etc.), the lack of symmetry of the forces generated by the prestressing system, as well as the nonlinear behaviour of the materials and the sensitivity of the results to uncertainties associated with several parameters. The computational model is completely described, including the constitutive equations for the concrete, the reinforcing steel and prestressing tendons, the spatial discretization—isoparametric elements including the reinforcement are used. The structural models and the analyses performed for their calibration are also described. The influence on the failure pressure of incorporating the foundation slab in the structural model, and the influence of the thermal effects, are discussed. One of the conclusions of the numerical study is that the failure process can be appropriately simulated by means of a structural model which does not include either the foundation slab or the thermal effects. Finally, results of a probabilistic simulation of the failure pressure are given.

[1]  P.,et al.  COMPUTER MODELLING OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES , .

[2]  David R. Owen,et al.  Computational Modelling of Reinforced Concrete Structures , 1986 .

[3]  B. DeBoeck.  A review of containment accidents , 1993 .

[4]  Rui Faria,et al.  Seismic evaluation of concrete dams via continuum damage models , 1995 .

[5]  Miguel Cervera,et al.  Nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete plate and shell structures using 20-noded isoparametric brick elements , 1987 .

[6]  Reuven Y. Rubinstein,et al.  Simulation and the Monte Carlo method , 1981, Wiley series in probability and mathematical statistics.

[7]  H. T. Tang,et al.  Implications of results from full-scale tests of reinforced and prestressed concrete containments , 1989 .

[8]  Eugenio Oñate,et al.  A constitutive model for cracking of concrete based on the incremental theory of plasticity , 1988 .

[9]  E. Oñate,et al.  A plastic-damage model for concrete , 1989 .

[10]  Miguel Cervera,et al.  A computational model for progressive cracking in large dams due to the swelling of concrete , 1990 .

[11]  Alex H. Barbat,et al.  Viscous damage model for timoshenko beam structures , 1997 .

[12]  P. G. Malerba.  Computational mechanics of reinforced concrete structures , 1998 .

[13]  Dan Alexandru Hanganu.  Análisis no lineal estático y dinámico de estructuras de hormigón armado mediante modelos de daño , 1997 .

[14]  Roland W. Lewis,et al.  Numerical methods in transient and coupled problems , 1987 .

[15]  M. B. Parks,et al.  Containment performance experiments under severe accident loadings , 1991 .

[16]  Alex H. Barbat,et al.  Evaluacion de la presión de fallo del edificio de contencion de una central nuclear tipo PWR-W tres lazos. Parte II: Simulacion numérica , 1995 .

[17]  A. H. Nilson.  State-of-the-art report on finite element analysis of reinforced concrete , 1982 .

[18]  Kurt H. Gerstle,et al.  Behavior of Concrete Under Biaxial Stresses , 1969 .

[19]  S. Oller.  Un modelo de daño continuo para materiales-friccionales , 1988 .

[20]  Y. R. Rashid,et al.  Analysis of the Sandia one-sixth-scale reinforced concrete containment model: Interim report , 1989 .

[21]  D. Ngo,et al.  Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Beams , 1967 .