Thermal stress analyses of a waste storage container

Abstract

A waste storage container composed of concrete walls with steel liners has been analyzed to investigate its structural integrity under an accident fire of 800 °C for half an hour. A series of thermal stress analyses using different approaches were performed to assess its stress level and post-cracking behavior. The ABAQUS was used for finite element analyses and the PATRAN for pre- and post-processing. Results conclude that the steel liners will yield, but do not experience any rupture failure. The concrete inside the liners is predicted to reach its ultimate strength primarily due to bending moments caused by internal restraints among container components. The concrete walls will crack, initiated from the inner face, and penetrate through the thickness toward the outer face of the container. However, the liners retain a certain amount of residual strength in strain hardening range which, combined with cracked but confined concrete, can be assessed for evaluating post-fire handling of the container.