Abstract
As the last barrier of nuclear reactor, prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) play an important role in nuclear power plants (NPPs). To test the mechanical property of PCCV during the integrated leakage rate testing (ILRT), a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor was used to monitor concrete strain. In addition, a finite element method (FEM) model was built to simulate the progress of the ILRT. The results showed that the strain monitored by FBG had the same trend compared to the inner pressure variation. The calculation results showed a similar trend compared with the monitoring results and provided much information about the locations in which the strain sensors should be installed. Therefore, it is confirmed that FBG sensors and FEM simulation are very useful in PCCV structure monitoring.
Highlights
The prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) of the nuclear power plant (NPP) is the last barrier of the nuclear reactor
The vertical direction strain is shown by the red line while the circumferential direction strain is shown by the green line
The PCCV monitoring project by using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors provided us much information about the PCCV structure during the integrated leakage rate testing (ILRT) and showed good potential
Summary
The prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) of the nuclear power plant (NPP) is the last barrier of the nuclear reactor. The results showed that the SOFO sensor can monitor concrete deformation. When the embedded vibrating wire strain gauges are damaged, the fiber optic sensors can compensate. Sang et al [12] used an axisymmetric model and a 3D model to simulate 1:4 scale model of the PCCV Both high temperature loading and internal pressure were considered in the analysis. The analysis results indicated the temperature affected the behavior of liner plate, but had little impact on the ultimate pressure capacity of the PCCV. Shokoohfar and Rahai [16] adopted a nonlinear FEM model to analyze the thermal and mechanical behaviors of the PCCV that was subjected to temperature loading and internal pressure. The analysis showed that the temperature had little impact on the ultimate pressure capacity of the PCCV.
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