Design Approach for RC Panels (Shells) in Industrial Facilities Based on ACI Codes

Carlos Alberto Madera Sierra, Purdue University

Abstract

Currently, the design of Reinforced Concrete (RC) walled type structures such as RC containments in nuclear power plants (NPPs), offshore oil platforms, and other industrial facilities are designed following the Element-by-Element Level (ELD) technique. In this technique, the walls are not considered as single isolated units, and different portions (or sections) of the walls, which will be referred in this document as RC panels, need to be designed. As commonly accepted, the design demands of RC panels are a combination of in-plane and out-of-plane forces/moments, which interact simultaneously. The ACI 349 and the ACI 318.2-19, do not provide a clear design guideline for the design of RC panels, and for this reason, a new design approach based on the design concepts and formulations of these ACI codes will be proposed and developed in this thesis. The results of this ACI-Panel-Based-Design-Approach (PACI) will be verified by using experimental data of twenty-one RC panels subjected to different combinations of in-plane and out-of-plane forces. The results from the PACI approach –represented in the suggested reinforcement areas, and in the estimated nominal capacities of the panels resulting after introducing those suggested reinforcement areas into calibrated numerical models developed in Abaqus and/or Shell 2000– will be compared against the experimental results. These results will also be compared against the results of the more sophisticated “sandwich” model approach applicable for RC shells (or panels) proposed by the Eurocode. Finally, after designing a critical panel of a typical Steel Composite (SC) RP-1000 power plant, the applicability of the PACI design approach will be verified for use in industrial applications.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Varma, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Design|Geophysical engineering|Geophysics|Mechanics|Nuclear engineering

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