Experimental and numerical study of influence of crude oil products on the behavior of reactive powder and normal strength concrete slabs

Abstract

This paper examines the usefulness of using reactive powder concrete (RPC) as a better option for constructing crude oil tanks. The effect of 2 types of crude oil products (kerosene and gas oil) on the structural behavior of RPC and normal strength concrete (NSC) slab specimens is experimentally and numerically investigated after being immersed for 180 days. The experimental program consisted of three groups of slab specimens; reference group (cured normally and tested at the age of 180 days), immersed in kerosene product group, and immersed in gas oil product group. Each of the groups consisted of testing (3) RPC slabs with a thickness of (20, 40 and 60 mm), and (1) NSC slab with (60 mm) slab thickness. A numerical finite element (FE) analysis has been done for the reference and immersed RPC slabs using the damage-plasticity constitutive model that readily available in the software package ABAQUS. The test results showed that the effect of each type of crude oil products on the load-bearing capacity of RPC slabs was nearly negligible with the highest reduction of 2.58% from its ultimate load after immersion in gas oil product. On the other hand, NSC slabs lost about (10.15 and 12.57%) of the ultimate load after being soaked in kerosene and gas oil respectively.