Simulation of BARCOM 1 : 4 scale Indian concrete containment building
Résumé
This paper presents the simulation proposed by CEA for the international benchmark BARCOM organized by Bhabba Atomic Research Center (BARC). It consists in the simulation of the mechanical behavior of a 1 : 4 scale representation of an existing prestressed concrete inner containment of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). The results are discussed in term of pressure – displacement curve and evolution of the mechanical degradation. As expected, the mechanical weak points are located at the different openings in the current part of the structure and in the dome. The influence of the constitutive law and the mesh dependency are studied. As a conclusion, the need for a Representative Structural Volume, associated to a multi-scale approach, is underlined to finely evaluate the local effects.