Shell Modelling of a 1/13 Scaled RC Containment Vessel under Cyclic Actions with PARC_CL Crack Model

The energetic resources exploitation became a big issue in present days. Globally 30 countries in the world are also exploiting Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) for the generation of energy. In this case energy production issue is correlated to the requirements for population safeguard against radiation leakage and to safe nuclear waste storing. However, many of these NPPs, which are still producing a large amount of energy, need or will need in short times a renewal process. Reinforced concrete members are of strong importance for the safety and for the proper operation of NPPs. One of the most important structural elements is then the reinforced concrete containment vessel, RCCV, of the reactor. The correct prediction of the RCCV behaviour under sever action is essential for the assessment of existing structure safety and for the design of new ones. In the paper it is described the modelling of a 1/13 scaled reinforce concrete containment vessel tested at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering of Taipei, Taiwan, under cyclic loading. The RCCV was analyzed by means of non linear finite elements analysis using multi layered shell elements. A secant total strain fixed crack model called PARC_CL, implemented at the University of Parma in the user subroutine UMAT.for in ABAQUS code, has been used to evaluate the mechanical non-linearity of RC elements. The multi layered shell elements approach with PARC_CL crack model provided good results in terms of local and global EDPs and it was able to give a good estimation of the post cracking behaviour until failure. Simulations results are provided in terms of displacements, strains and crack patterns. Although analyses provided good results, some issues like the modelling of the structure to foundation interface are still open.