Effect of neutron irradiation on response of reinforced concrete members for nuclear power plants

Kyoungsoo Park; Hyung Tae Kim; Tae Hyun Kwon; Eunsoo Choi

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.09.034

Effect of neutron irradiation on response of reinforced concrete members for nuclear power plants

Kyoungsoo Park, Hyung Tae Kim, Tae Hyun Kwon, Eunsoo Choi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, the effects of long-term irradiation on the behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) members were investigated to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of RC structures under an irradiation environment, which include the biological shield walls and reactor vessel support structures of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The behaviors of three RC members were examined (a beam, beam-column section, and column under cyclic loading) by considering the changes in the constituent material properties due to neutron irradiation. The load capacity generally increases for a tension failure member with an increase in neutron irradiation because neutron irradiation increases the yield stress of reinforcing steel. However, the load capacity of a compression failure member decreases with a decrease in the compressive strength of concrete when the fluence of neutron radiation increases. Additionally, RC member analysis results demonstrate that the energy dissipation capacity, which is a critical factor in seismic design, decreases significantly when the fluence of neutron radiation is greater than 1.0 × 10¹⁷ n/cm². Therefore, the level of neutron irradiation could be critical for RC structures over the long-term operation of NPPs, and thus the effects of neutron irradiation on RC structures should be considered as age-related damage.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	15-26
Number of pages	12
Journal	Nuclear Engineering and Design
Volume	310
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.09.034
Publication status	Published - 2016 Dec 15

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) through grant #20121620100040 and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea through grant #NRF-2015R1C1A1A02037663 . The information presented in this paper is the sole opinion of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies. Additionally, Dr. Park would like to thank Drs. Le Pape and Field for sharing the collected experimental data of the concrete compressive strength.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Materials Science(all)
Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Waste Management and Disposal
Mechanical Engineering

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10.1016/j.nucengdes.2016.09.034

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title = "Effect of neutron irradiation on response of reinforced concrete members for nuclear power plants",

abstract = "In this study, the effects of long-term irradiation on the behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) members were investigated to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of RC structures under an irradiation environment, which include the biological shield walls and reactor vessel support structures of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The behaviors of three RC members were examined (a beam, beam-column section, and column under cyclic loading) by considering the changes in the constituent material properties due to neutron irradiation. The load capacity generally increases for a tension failure member with an increase in neutron irradiation because neutron irradiation increases the yield stress of reinforcing steel. However, the load capacity of a compression failure member decreases with a decrease in the compressive strength of concrete when the fluence of neutron radiation increases. Additionally, RC member analysis results demonstrate that the energy dissipation capacity, which is a critical factor in seismic design, decreases significantly when the fluence of neutron radiation is greater than 1.0 × 1017 n/cm2. Therefore, the level of neutron irradiation could be critical for RC structures over the long-term operation of NPPs, and thus the effects of neutron irradiation on RC structures should be considered as age-related damage.",

author = "Kyoungsoo Park and Kim, {Hyung Tae} and Kwon, {Tae Hyun} and Eunsoo Choi",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) through grant #20121620100040 and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea through grant #NRF-2015R1C1A1A02037663 . The information presented in this paper is the sole opinion of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies. Additionally, Dr. Park would like to thank Drs. Le Pape and Field for sharing the collected experimental data of the concrete compressive strength. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier B.V.",

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AU - Kim, Hyung Tae

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N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) through grant #20121620100040 and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea through grant #NRF-2015R1C1A1A02037663 . The information presented in this paper is the sole opinion of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies. Additionally, Dr. Park would like to thank Drs. Le Pape and Field for sharing the collected experimental data of the concrete compressive strength. Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2016/12/15

Y1 - 2016/12/15

N2 - In this study, the effects of long-term irradiation on the behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) members were investigated to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of RC structures under an irradiation environment, which include the biological shield walls and reactor vessel support structures of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The behaviors of three RC members were examined (a beam, beam-column section, and column under cyclic loading) by considering the changes in the constituent material properties due to neutron irradiation. The load capacity generally increases for a tension failure member with an increase in neutron irradiation because neutron irradiation increases the yield stress of reinforcing steel. However, the load capacity of a compression failure member decreases with a decrease in the compressive strength of concrete when the fluence of neutron radiation increases. Additionally, RC member analysis results demonstrate that the energy dissipation capacity, which is a critical factor in seismic design, decreases significantly when the fluence of neutron radiation is greater than 1.0 × 1017 n/cm2. Therefore, the level of neutron irradiation could be critical for RC structures over the long-term operation of NPPs, and thus the effects of neutron irradiation on RC structures should be considered as age-related damage.

AB - In this study, the effects of long-term irradiation on the behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) members were investigated to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of RC structures under an irradiation environment, which include the biological shield walls and reactor vessel support structures of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The behaviors of three RC members were examined (a beam, beam-column section, and column under cyclic loading) by considering the changes in the constituent material properties due to neutron irradiation. The load capacity generally increases for a tension failure member with an increase in neutron irradiation because neutron irradiation increases the yield stress of reinforcing steel. However, the load capacity of a compression failure member decreases with a decrease in the compressive strength of concrete when the fluence of neutron radiation increases. Additionally, RC member analysis results demonstrate that the energy dissipation capacity, which is a critical factor in seismic design, decreases significantly when the fluence of neutron radiation is greater than 1.0 × 1017 n/cm2. Therefore, the level of neutron irradiation could be critical for RC structures over the long-term operation of NPPs, and thus the effects of neutron irradiation on RC structures should be considered as age-related damage.

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Effect of neutron irradiation on response of reinforced concrete members for nuclear power plants

Abstract

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