CX-270182: Experimentally Validated Computational Modeling of Creep and Creep-Cracking for Nuclear Concrete Structures – Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)

Texas A&M University proposes to 1) devise new, 3D concrete material constitutive models base on 3D creep and cracking experiments, 2) establish an improved large-scale structural modeling approach that considers full 3D stress fields rather than plane stress as has been conventional in past analyses of nuclear concrete structures. The project will include fabricate of simple confined compression loading apparatuses to generate a multi-axial stress state more representative of concrete in nuclear containment structures to be conducted on both cement pastes and concretes based on multiple mixture designs. No fewer than ten long-term tests on mature materials will be performed.