Design of steel concrete composite wall-to-wall joints for safety-related nuclear facilities

Jungil Seo, Purdue University

Abstract

Steel-plate composite (SC) walls are being used in the containment internal structures (CIS) of safety-related nuclear facilities. CIS are labyrinthine in plan, and typically composed of numerous SC walls that intersect each other. This dissertation focuses on the joint shear strength of SC wall-to-wall connection regions in the CIS. SC wall joints and intersections are typically designed to fail with flexural yielding of the connected SC walls. Plastic hinges are expected to form in the SC walls and dissipate energy through inelasticity. In order to ensure that flexural yielding of the SC walls occur prior to joint shear failure, it is important to estimate the joint shear strength of SC wall-to-wall joint regions. Due to the lack of information on the joint shear strength of SC wall-to-wall joints, the equation for reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joint shear strength given in ACI349-06 Section 21.5.3 was adopted in this research. The overall goal of this research is to develop knowledge of the fundamental behavior and joint shear strength of typical SC wall-to-wall joints in safety-related nuclear facilities. Two of the most common joint configurations in the CIS, namely, T-joints and L-joints are considered in this study. However, the focus is primarily on SC wall-to-wall T-joints. A total of four SC wall-to-wall T joint specimens were tested under cyclic loading to investigate the joint shear behavior and joint shear strength. The governing failure mode of each test specimen was evaluated based on the experimental results. The measured joint shear strength was compared with values computed using the equation for RC beam-column joint shear strength given in ACI 349-06 (2006), Section 21.5.3. Three dimensional finite element models were also developed and analyzed to verify the experimental results and to gain additional insight into the joint shear behavior of the test specimens. Analytical parametric studies were conducted using the benchmarked finite element models to expand the database of SC wall-to-wall T joints and L joints. The parameters included in the analytical studies were the SC wall thickness, SC wall length, steel reinforcement ratio, and concrete strength. The experimental and analytical results indicate that the fundamental behavior and joint shear strength of SC wall-to-wall joints are governed by the steel faceplate reinforcement ratios of the connected SC walls. The effects of steel tie reinforcement ratio and shear stud layout in the joint region are not significant. Finally, the joint shear strength of SC wall-to-wall joints can be estimated conservatively using the applicable ACI349 RC beam-column joint shear strength equation.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Varma, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Civil engineering|Environmental engineering

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