Abstract
This paper is focused on the behavior of the 1/4 scale prestressed concrete containment vessel(PCCV) under pressure and temperature loading beyond the design basis. In the nonlinear finite element analyses, the 1/4 scale PCCV including the axi-symmetric cylindrical vessel, the spherical dome and the concrete base slab are idealized as an axi-symmetric global model with axi-symmetric solid elements and shell elements. The temperature-dependent degradation properties of concrete and steel are considered. Both geometric and material nonlinearities including thermal effects are also addressed in the analyses. Menetrey-Willam concrete constitutive model with non-associated flow potential is adopted for this study. This study includes the results of the predicted thermal and mechanical behaviors of the PCCV subject to high temperature loading and internal pressure simultaneously. In order to find the effect of accident high temperature on the ultimate pressure capacity of each component, two kinds of analyses are performed; one for pressure only and the other for pressure with temperature. The results are compared with each other for the liner plate, reinforcement, prestressing tendon and concrete. The analysis results show that the temperature directly affects the behavior of the liner plate, but have a little impact on the ultimate pressure capacity of the PCCV.