Shell finite element of reinforced concrete for internal pressure analysis of nuclear containment building

This paper describes a 9-node degenerated shell finite element (FE), an analysis program developed for ultimate pressure capacity evaluation and nonlinear analysis of a nuclear containment building. The shell FE developed adopts the Reissner–Mindlin (RM) assumptions to consider the degenerated shell solidification technique and the degree of transverse shear strain occurring in the structure. The material model of the concrete determines the level of the concrete stress and strain by using the equivalent stress–equivalent strain relationship. When a crack occurs in the concrete, the material behavior is expressed through the tension stiffening model that takes adhesive stress into account and through the shear transfer mechanism and compressive strength reduction model of the crack plane. In addition, the failure envelope proposed by Niwa is adopted as the crack occurrence criteria for the compression–tension region, and the failure envelope proposed by Yamada is used for the tension–tension region. The performance of the program developed is verified through various numerical examples. The analysis based on the application of the shell FE developed from the results of verified examples produced results similar to the experiment or other analysis results.

Research highlights▶ Finite element program with 9-node degenerated shell element was developed. ▶ The developed program was mainly forced to analyze nuclear containment building. ▶ Concrete material model is adapted Niwa and Yamada failure criteria. ▶ The performance of program developed is verified through various numerical examples. ▶ The numerical analysis results similar to the experimental data.