Thermal cracking assessment for nuclear containment buildings using high-strength concrete

To shorten the construction times of nuclear facility structures, three high-strength concrete mixtures were developed with specific consideration given to their curing temperatures, their economic efficiency, and the practicality of their quality control. This study was conducted to examine the temperature rise profiles of these three concrete mixtures and the potential for early-age thermal cracking in the primary containment vessel of a nuclear reactor with a wall thickness of 1200 mm. The one-layer placement height of the concrete for the primary containment vessel was increased from the conventional 3 m to 3.5 m. A nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted using the thermal properties of concrete determined from the isothermal hydration and adiabatic hydration tests, and tuned through comparisons made with temperature rise profiles obtained for 1200-mm-thick mock-up wall specimens cured at temperatures of 5, 20, and 35oC. The hydration heat performance of the three concrete mixtures and their potential to produce thermal cracking in nuclear facilities indicate that the mixtures have considerable potential for practical application to the primary containment vessel of a nuclear reactor at various curing temperatures, fulfilling the minimum requirements of the ACI 301 and minimizing the likelihood of the occurrence of thermal cracks.