Two-dimensional interaction of oxidic corium with concretes: The VULCANO VB test series

Three two-dimensional Molten Core–Concrete Interaction tests have been conducted in the VULCANO facility with prototypic oxidic corium. The major finding is that for the two tests with silica-rich concrete, the ablation was anisotropic while it was isotropic for limestone-rich concrete. The cause of this behaviour is not yet well understood.Post Test Examinations have indicated that for the silica-rich concrete, the corium melt mixed specifically with mortar, while, for limestone-rich concretes, the analysed samples were in accordance with a corium–concrete mixing. The experimental results are described and compared to numerical codes. Separate Effect Tests with Artificial Concretes and prototypic corium are proposed to understand the phenomena governing the ablation geometry.