A Study on the Structural Response of a PSC Inner Containment Dome with Large Openings Due to Prestress Transfer

Anirudh A. Desai, Sekhar K. Chakrabarti

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnst.2014.42016                

Abstract

A linear three dimensional finite element (FE) study has been carried out to examine the structural response of a prestressed concrete (PSC) inner containment (IC) dome of reactor building (double containment system) of a typical Indian Nuclear Power Plant, having large steam generator (SG) openings with due emphasis on the local behaviour of the steel-concrete interfaces at the SG openings, due to initial prestress transfer. The predominant thrust of the study has been placed on the objective of predicting the possibilities of separation at the steel-concrete interface zones adjacent to the embedded plates (EPs) of the SG openings. Two types of modeling and analysis have been made to study the overall and local behaviour of the structure. Prestressing ducts, passive reinforcements and EPs have been included in the models in certain ways. For the FE analysis, the interface zone has been modeled using interface elements, the properties of which were derived from the results of past experiments conducted on steel plate-concrete inter-face specimens. The FE analysis results have been compared with the results of the past two FE analytical studies on the linear behaviour of the same PSC IC dome. Important observations have been made regarding dome deformation and stresses throughout the structure with special emphasis on the local behaviour of steel-concrete interfaces at and around the SG openings.

Keywords

Prestressed Concrete, Inner Containment, Reactor Building, Double Containment System, Steel-Concrete Interface, Steam Generator Openings, Steel Embedded Plates

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Warudkar, A.S. (1997) Nuclear Power Plant Containment Design: Evolution and Indian Experience. Joint WNO/ OCEDNEA Workshop, Prestress Loss in NPP Containments, Ciraux NPP, Poitiers.
[2]	Chakrabarti, S.K., Sai, A.S.R. and Basu, P.C. (1994) Examination of Leakage Aspects Through Concrete Steel Interfaces at and around Containment Penetration Assemblies. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Containment Design and Operation, Toronto, 19-21 October 1994.
[3]	Chakrabarti, S.K., Kumar, A. and Basu, P.C. (1997) Leakage through Concrete-Steel Interfaces at and around Containment Penetration Assemblies: Some New Observations. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Reactor Safety, Orlando, 1-5 June 1997, 1203-1210.
[4]	Basu, P.C. and Rajagopalan, N. (1997) Behaviour of Concrete with Reinforcement under Split Tension. Transactions of the 14th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, Lyon, 17-22 August 1997.
[5]	Chakrabarti, S.K. and Basu, P.C. (1999) Issues Related to Design and Construction of Prestressed Concrete Inner Containment Dome of Reactor Building with Large Openings. Transactions of the 15th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, Seoul, 15-20 August 1999.
[6]	Chakrabarti, S.K., Chaturvedi, P.K. and Basu, P.C. (2004) Behavior of Steel Plate—Concrete Interface in Tension. The Bridge and Structural Engineer, 34, 39-52.
[7]	Chakrabarti, S.K., Chaturvedi, P.K. and Basu, P.C. (2007) Behavior of Steel Plate—Concrete Interface in Shear. Journal of Structural Engineer, 34, 266-276.
[8]	Chakrabarti, S.K., Damarla, V.N. and Basu, P.C. (2008) Behavior of Steel Plate—Concrete Interface under Combined Shear and Normal Forces. The Bridge and Structural Engineer, 38, 49-86.
[9]	Mohan, K.M., Chakrabarti, S.K., Basu, P.C. and Ghosh, S. (2000) Study of the Linear Behavior of a PSC Containment Dome with Large Openings. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 196, 123-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0029-5493(99)00289-7
[10]	Gandhi, D., Chakrabarti, S.K. and Basu, P.C. (2009) A Study on the Local Behavior of Steel-Concrete Interfaces at and around Large Openings in the PSC Inner Containment Dome. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 239, 442-454. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2008.11.018
[11]	Desai, A.A. (2002) An Analytical Study to Evaluate the Performance (at Transfer) of Prestressed Concrete Inner Containment Dome of the New Generation Nuclear Reactor Containment Structure. M.Tech. Thesis, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur.
[12]	Anon (1998) CSA/NASTRAN User’s Manual 1998. Computerized Structural Analysis and Research Corporation, Augora Hills.
[13]	Anon (1998) FEMAP User’s Guide (v.5.0 and v.6.0). Enterprise Software Products Inc., Exton.