Repair of prestressed concrete cylinder with localized delamination

For prestressed concrete cylindrical structures such as nuclear containments, tanks and silos, the curvature effect of the tendons introduces radial tensile stresses in the concrete shell which are generally neglected in the design of such structures. For example, many prestressed concrete nuclear containments in US, especially those which were not designed following radial reinforcement requirement of ACI-359, are reinforced only in the circumferential (hoop) and meridional (vertical) directions but not in the radial direction. This leaves these structures vulnerable to potential laminar cracking and delamination, especially during post-tensioning and/or detensioning process. Should delamination occur, the structure needs to be repaired by either replacing cracked concrete or by “pinning” the delaminated concrete layers together by post-installed anchors. The latter option of post-installed anchors is less invasive from construction stand point and generally suitable for repairing small or localized delamination only. A comprehensive study is undertaken to explore various aspects and design consideration of post-installed anchors for prestressed concrete cylinders. The radial tension demand is first established by combining a mechanical based model with a detailed finite element analysis. With such design demand for post-installed anchors established, the next step aims at developing the tightness requirement of existing delamination cracks for effective use of post-installed anchors. A comprehensive literature search and evaluation is carried out for shear transfer capacity across cracks of various widths. The findings are used to develop specific recommendations for acceptable crack widths to ensure adequate in-plane shear transfer capacity for various design load conditions. A design process for post-installed anchors is proposed for repairing a delaminated prestressed concrete cylindrical structure at the end of the paper, supplemented by an illustrative design example.