Study on mechanical behavior of containment in nuclear power plant during prestressing construction

Abstract Taking a third generation nuclear power plant as the research background, a refined model of a prestressed concrete containment which consisted of 270 complex spatial prestressed tendons was accurately established, using FE software ABAQUS. The cooling method was adopted to simulate the tensioning process of tendons. The simulation method of the tensioning of tendons during the prestressing construction of containment was verified by comparing with the measured data on site of the practical project. The mechanical behavior of the containment during the prestressing construction according to the prestressing construction scheme on site was studied in detail. Then the influence of steel liner and reinforcement on mechanical behavior of the containment during the prestressing construction of prestressed tendons was discussed. Finally, four prestressing construction schemes were analyzed and a reasonable optimization scheme was obtained.