Pre-stressed Concrete Containment Research Articles

Analysis of time-varying mechanical properties of prestressed concrete containment during the tensioning process and service considering the influence of creep

The containment structure is an important barrier that ensures the safe operation of nuclear power plants. Currently, most studies on concrete creep in containment structures assumed constant stresses in the calculation of creep, which is not consistent with realistic cases or circumstances. In this study, a combination of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation was used to investigate the prestressed concrete containment (PCC) of nuclear power plants. Based on the age-adjusted effective modulus method, three widely accepted concrete creep models were improved to obtain a variable stress creep model. Using the improved creep model, the effect of concrete creep on the PCC structure during prestressed tensioning and long-term service was systematically analyzed. Then, the internal pressure bearing capacity of the PCC in long-term service was assessed, and the effects of long-term concrete creep on the mechanical properties of the PCC were evaluated.

Feasibility study of a prestressed-concrete containment vessel for a novel GFR nuclear reactor

The latest modern nuclear energy systems currently researched and developed are the Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear reactors, and one of the more promising Gen IV designs is the Gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR). Among the number of challenging problems of the design of GFR, the development of passive safety systems ensuring passive decay heat removal (DHR) during loss-of-coolant-accidents (LOCA) is of the highest importance. The currently proposed DHR strategy relies on intentionally increasing pressure inside a gas-tight guard vessel containing the reactor to approximately 4 bar. This, however, presents a significant engineering challenge as the vessel must be capable of withstanding high pressure of up to 10 bar, due to pressure spikes and safety coefficients, while also withstanding increased temperatures during the LOCA. As no GFR guard vessel has ever been designed, this paper presents a feasibility study establishing whether such vessel can be designed. The feasibility study is aimed at the assessment of a preconceptual design of a prestressed concrete vessel previously created by the authors. In the study, stresses in the structure induced by normal-operation loads and LOCA loads are calculated for three types of extreme constraint conditions covering all possible real constraints of the structure. The calculations are based on heat transfer equations, Euler–Bernoulli theory, and Lamé equation implemented in a in-house Python code. In the results, stresses in the vessel are presented and compared to design criteria. The main conclusion of the paper is that the vessel can be designed; however, certain adverse phenomena which complicate the design process, such as non-linear creep of concrete and occurrence of tensile stress up to 1MPa, will have to be addressed and considered during future detailed design. Following on from this affirmative conclusion, the authors will create the detailed design using advanced three-dimensional modelling in their future work.

Failure Mechanism of Fiber-Reinforced Prestressed Concrete Containments under Internal Pressure Considering Different Fiber Types

Current investigations of performance improvement in prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) with fiber reinforcement are scarce, and the type of fiber to select for PCCVs is not explicitly stated. The failure mechanism of PCCVs with fiber reinforcement under internal pressure is investigated in this paper. The effects of different fiber types, including rigid fiber, flexible fiber, and hybrid fiber, are considered for the creation of fiber-reinforced PCCVs. The mechanical behavior between conventional and fiber-reinforced PCCVs is scientifically compared and identified. The results demonstrate that to achieve the aim of inhibiting early cracking of the concrete, any type of fiber can be taken into account. The performance of the ultimate pressure capacity and yielding of the liner can be promoted, respectively, by introducing steel, steel-PP, and steel-PVA fiber-reinforced concrete. Additionally, the failure regions can be controlled to a certain extent under ultimate internal pressure via the appropriate use of FRC.

Time-dependent strains of prestressed concrete containment vessels: Validation of analytical model by real-world data

Nowadays, for the containment of nuclear reactors, the prestressed concrete containments (PCCs) are most often used for their high resistance to both design and accidental loads. When designing a safe and effective PCC, an accurate prediction of prestress losses is of vital importance. One of the most considerable prestress losses is caused by the time-dependent strain due to creep and shrinkage of concrete. Thus, in the preconceptual design phase, a tool for making relatively simple but safe prediction is required. When designing a PCC in particular, the situation is complicated by the fact that the PCC is a mass concrete structure exposed to increased operation temperature which affects the creep and shrinkage of concrete greatly. Bažant́s widely accepted creep and shrinkage model B3 with the extension for elevated temperature (called B3T) allows to take into account increased operation temperatures for thick concrete elements. However, this model is not primarily aimed at mass structures at elevated temperatures, and its usability for prediction of creep and shrinkage of concrete in these structures should be verified. In this paper, the authors analyse the usability of this model for the PCCs by comparing real-world measurements gathered from publicly available sources for 13 types of containments (31 structures in total) with B3T model predictions. The analysis shows that the B3T model provides a safe estimation of creep and shrinkage in 28 out of the 31 structures. In the remaining three cases, an unsafe result was obtained, probably due to a nonstandard course of the construction schedule; however, the inaccuracy of B3T model predictions was below 15 % in these cases. Moreover, the unique database of containment parameters presented in this paper may provide useful for future researchers or designers dealing with the preconceptual design of PCCs.

Ultimate pressure bearing capacity analysis for the prestressed concrete containment

PWR nuclear power technology has been developed in China according to the experience feedback of the Fukushima accident and the global latest safety requirements, in which the double-containment design with hemisphere dome having larger free space is adopted. Ultimate pressure bearing capacity of the Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel (PCCV) is analyzed in this study to provide technical support for development of Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG) in nuclear power plants. Firstly, the finite element model of the PCCV is built, including the concrete, the rebars, the prestressed tendons, the steel liner, and penetrations. Combining of free-sweep mesh is adopted according to the characteristics of the containment structure. Proper mesh size is determined through mesh sensitivity analysis. Prestressing loss is calculated for four types of prestressed tendons, and decreasing temperature method is adopted in prestressing simulation. Temperature field of the containment is calculated, and stratified temperature method is adopted in temperature simulation. Ultimate pressure bearing analysis results show that, with the increase of internal pressure, the containment gradually expands outward, and the maximum stress and maximum radial deformation of the containment appear near the equipment hatch. When the internal pressure load reaches 1.26 MPa (g), the equivalent plastic strain of the steel liner in the right area of the equipment hatch is 0.15%. At this time, the concrete cracks on a large area, and the prestressed tendons do not yield.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of Civil Structures

As newer and more reliable ways of construction were developed, civilization began to spread out further and retain functional infrastructure for longer periods of time.[...]

A Numerical Analysis of the Stress-strain Behavior of Anchorage Elements and Steel Liner of a Prestressed Concrete Containment Wall

The paper presents a numerical analysis of the stress-strain behavior of the steel liner of a prestressed concrete containment wall and the anchorage elements between the liner and the wall. Models of a block segment of the wall were created and loaded by prestress, operation temperature, creep and shrinkage, loss of coolant accident (LOCA) temperature and LOCA pressure. The purpose of the block models was to observe the stress-strain behavior of the steel liner plate in the course of service life of the structure and to obtain boundary conditions for the detailed models of anchorage elements connecting the liner to the concrete wall. There were two different types of anchorage studied – headed studs and L-profiles. The detailed models of anchorage elements were loaded by displacements calculated in the block models and exploited for the determination of extreme stresses in the steel liner and widths of cracks in the concrete wall. The importance of initial geometry imperfections of the steel liner plate was appraised as well. According to the results, there is no risk of buckling of the liner or failure of the liner and anchorage elements during operation conditions and LOCA. There is also no substantial difference between the stress-strain behavior of the liners connected by headed studs or by L-profiles. However, the initial imperfections of the liner plate were found to be very important for the distribution of stresses in the liner and crack pattern in concrete.

Assessment of Ultimate Load Capacity of concrete containment structures against structural collapse

Nuclear safety regulations in India require assessment of containment structure for Ultimate Load Capacity (ULC) for internal pressure. ULC and associated behavior of containment is evaluated with respect to various performance indicators based on defined criteria. Non-linear FE analysis of the containment structures was carried out considering non-linear material properties of concrete and steel using ABAQUS and ANSYS software. Evaluation of ULC was undertaken to understand containment performance under severe accident conditions, as a round robin analysis based on 1:4 containment model test results conducted at SANDIA national Lab, USA. AERB also participated in the international round-robin exercise organized by BARC to assess the ULC of BARC’s containment test model (BARCOM). The test model is a 1:4 scale replica of 540MWe PHWR pre-stressed concrete inner containment structure of Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units 3&4. Based on the knowledge gained from these studies VVER 1000 reactor building constructed at Kudankulam (KKNPP) was assessed for ULC of its primary containment as a regulatory requirement. VVER containment study was first of its kind as it is a lined containment with cellular basement structure. Non-linear FE analysis in ABAQUS using layered shell model was performed to assess the ULC of the containment structure. Three times of design pressure is estimated to be ULC of the structure.

Nuclear Power Plant Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel Structure Monitoring during Integrated Leakage Rate Testing Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

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.

Structural reliability of pre-stressed concrete containments

This paper presents probabilistic analysis of structural capacity of pre-stressed concrete containments subjected to internal pressure. The conventional design methods for containments are based on allowable stress codes which ensure certain factor of safety between expected load and expected structural strength. Such an approach may give different values of structural reliability in different situations. In recent years, two international round robin exercises have been conducted aimed at predicting the capacity of lined and unlined pre-stressed concrete containments used in nuclear industry. These exercises involved experimental testing and numerical analysis of the models. The first exercise involved 1/4 scale steel-lined Pre-stressed Concrete Containment Vessel (PCCV) which was tested at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in USA. The second used an unlined containment being tested by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Tarapur, India. These studies are essentially deterministic studies that have helped validate the analysis methodology and modelling techniques that can be used to predict pre-stressed concrete containment capacity and failure modes. The paper uses these two examples to apply structural reliability method to estimate the probability of failure of the containment.The two international round robin exercises have already established the ultimate structural collapse mode of the containments under internal pressure loading which indicate that the failure takes place in the general field of the containment wall around mid-height and away from any major structural discontinuities like the penetrations. This is because robust design procedures have been used to avoid structural failure at discontinuities by providing adequate compensation. Based on these experimental studies and the attendant numerical analyses a failure function is presented that assumes first yielding in the hoop direction at mid-height of the cylinder wall. A failure function equating the free-field membrane hoop stress to the hoop strength as a function of cross-sectional area (per unit height) and yield stresses of concrete, rebar, liner plate and tendons is developed.First Order Reliability Method (FORM) is applied to predict probability of failure of the containments. Probability of failure vs internal pressure is presented for both types of containments. The paper presents a simple method to establish structural reliability of a pre-stressed concrete containment which can be useful for probabilistic safety assessment when considering extreme events that lead to over-pressurisation of the containment. The FORM approach was validated by comparison to the results of analogous calculations using Subset Simulation and Importance Sampling techniques for Monte Carlo simulation. It was found that at high pressures the Advanced FORM approach yields a good approximation to the true probability of failure.The sensitivity of the probability of failure to the assumed coefficients of variation of properties of the containment was studied using the Sobol and Total Sensitivity Indices. At design pressure it was found that the coefficients of variation of the tendon yield and tendon area are the most important parameters followed by the applied pressure and containment radius. At higher pressures it was found that the coefficients of variation of the applied pressure and containment radius are the most important parameters. The variability of the probability of failure is decreased at higher pressures, but the coefficients of variation still play an important role.

Ultimate internal pressure of Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel analyzed by an integral constitutive model

This work focuses on the safety margin of Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel (PCCV) under internal pressure beyond the design load up to its ultimate strength. Due to the complicated configurations of rebars and tendons, an integral constitutive model was developed to simulate the PCCV to reduce computational complexity and improve calculation efficiency. The integral stress-strain relationship considers the nonlinear properties of concrete, rebars and tendons, and can reflect the material failure procedure. The PCCV model is three-dimensional axisymmetric and considers critical structural characteristics. Our numerical results can successfully predict the failure mode. The maximum deflection is expected at the mid-height of the wall near the equipment hatch hole. When the strain of the steel liner reaches tearing strain 3×10−3, the corresponding internal pressure is 3.04 Pd (design pressure) which meets the internationally required value (2.5 Pd). And our analysis is in good agreement with most of the previous results.

The PACE-1450 Test Campaign - Leakage Behaviour of a Pre-Stressed Concrete Containment Wall Segment

Investigating nuclear power plant containments under accidental conditions obviously leads to the question of possible leakage through cracks of the pre-stressed concrete containment. In the last decades a number of civil engineering R&D programs dedicated to theoretical and experimental analyses have been performed. For the PACE-1450 experiment a leakage testing facility for pre-stressed curved specimen has been built in the laboratory of the Materials Testing and Research Institute (MPA Karlsruhe) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The test campaign has now been successfully finished with the evaluation of gained results still ongoing. The first half of the campaign was mainly dedicated to the cracking of the realistically reinforced specimen while the second half was focussing on the leakage behaviour of the cracked specimen. In the tests cold air, heated air and air-steam mixtures were used.

Nonlinear analysis of pre-stressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) using the damage plasticity model

This paper describes the nonlinear analyses of a 1:4 scale model of a pre-stressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV). The analyses are performed under pressure and high temperature effects with considering anchorage details of liner plate. The temperature-time history of the model test is considered as an input boundary condition in the coupled temp-displacement analysis. The constitutive model developed by Chang and Mander (1994) is adopted in the model as the basis for the concrete stress–strain relation. To trace the crack pattern of the PCCV concrete faces, the concrete damage plasticity model is applied. This study includes the results of the thermal and mechanical behaviors of the PCCV subject to temperature loading and internal pressure at the same time. The test results are compared with the analysis results. The analysis results show that the temperature has little impact on the ultimate pressure capacity of the PCCV. To simulate the exact failure mode of the PCCV, the anchorage details of the liner plates around openings should be maintained in the analytical models. Also the failure mode of the PCCV structure hasn’t influenced by hoop tendons pre-stressing force variations.

The Structural Integrity Test for a PSC Containment with Unbonded Tendons and Numerical Analysis I

원자로 격납건물은 냉각재상실사고와 같이 내부의 과도한 압력이 유발되는 사고에 있어서도 방사성 물질이 외부로 누출되지 않도록 막는 최종의 방벽이다. 이러한 격납건물의 기능적 중요성에 기인하여, 건설 초기 구조건전성시험(SIT)을 수행한다. 신고리 3호기 SIT 시험 당시 계측된 변위를 예측하기 위한 초기 해석 모델은 일부 위치에서 실제 변위를 과소 평가하는 경향을 보임에 따라 이를 개선하고자 하는 연구가 수행되었다. 해당 연구의 결과를 I 편과 II 편의 논문으로 정리하였으며, 본 I 편에서는 초기 해석모델을 개선해가는 과정에서의 해석모델 구성 시의 주요 고려사항의 분석 및 예비해석 결과를 제시하고 있다. 우선적으로 콘크리트 자체의 해석요소(mesh) 구성과 라이너, 철근, 텐던 등의 요소간의 연결 설정이 중요함을 확인하였다. 또한, 다양한 예비해석의 결과를 통해 비부착식 텐던으로 시공된 구조물에서 덕트관에 의한 강성 저감 효과 및 덕트관을 사이에 둔 텐던과 콘크리트간의 밀착 여부에 따른 강성 영향을 적절히 고려하는 것이 중요함을 확인하였다. A reactor containment acts as a final barrier to prevent leakage of radioactive material due to the possible reactor accidents into external environment. Because of the functional importance of the containment building, the SIT(Structural Integrity Test) for containments shall be performed to evaluate the structural acceptability and demonstrate the quality of construction. An initial numerical analysis was performed to simulate the results obtained from the SIT for a prestressed concrete(PSC) structure. But the analysis results by the initial model expected smaller displacements than the measured ones by 30% at some locations. Accordingly, the research and development to improve the initial model to corelate the measured results of the SIT more properly have been performed. In this paper, the effects of the loss of concrete due to duct for tendons and the contact of duct and tendons in un-bonded tendon system are mainly evaluated based on the preliminary analysis results. In addition, the importances of the proper definition of mesh connectivity among structural elements of concrete, liner plates, rebars and tendons are discussed.

The Structural Integrity Test for a PSC Containment with Unbonded Tendons and Numerical Analysis Ⅱ

원자로 격납건물은 냉각재상실사고와 같이 내부의 과도한 압력이 유발되는 사고에 있어서도 방사성 물질이 외부로 누출되지 않도록 막는 최종의 방벽이다. 이러한 격납건물의 기능적 중요성에 기인하여, 건설 초기 구조건전성시험(SIT)을 수행한다. 이러한 SIT거동을 가장 실제와 가깝게 예측하기 위한 해석 연구를 수행하였다. 해당 연구의 결과는 2편의 논문으로 정리되었는데, 본 논문은 그 중 II편으로 I편의 해석모델 구성 시의 주요 고려사항의 분석 및 예비해석 결과를 반영한 상세 해석 모델의 구성 과정 및 해석 결과를 제시하고 있다. 특히 비부착식 텐던으로 시공된 구조물에서 덕트관에 의한 강성 저감 효과 및 덕트관을 사이에 둔 텐던과 콘크리트간의 밀착 여부에 따른 영향을 해석 시 최대한 고려하고자 하였다. 이러한 과정을 통해 구축된 해석 모델에 따른 변위과 신고리 3호기 SIT 측정변위를 비교한 결과, ASME CC-6000 기준을 충분히 만족시키는 결과가 나타남을 확인하였다. A reactor containment acts as a final barrier to prevent leakage of radioactive material due to the possible reactor accidents into external environment. Because of the functional importance of the containment building, the SIT(Structural Integrity Test) for containments shall be performed to evaluate the structural acceptability and demonstrate the quality of construction. In this paper, numerical analyses are presented, which simulate the results obtained from the SIT for a prestressed concrete(PSC) structure. A sophisticate structural analysis model is developed to simulate the structural behavior during the SIT properly based on various preliminary analysis results considering contact condition among structural elements. From the comparison of the analysis and test results based on the acceptance criteria of ASME CC-6000, it can be concluded that the construction quality of the containment has been well maintained and the acceptable performance of new design features has been verified.

Assessment of in-situ concrete creep: Cylindrical specimen and prototype nuclear containment structure

The paper is dedicated to develop an efficient methodology that assess and segregate the creep, instantaneous and shrinkage strains on small scale: concrete cylindrical specimens and large proto type structure: BARC Containment (BARCOM) test model. The evaluation of concrete creep, shrinkage and instantaneous strains helps in analyzing the long term behavior of the most critical safety barrier the concrete containment structure. The main purpose of the nuclear pre-stressed concrete containment is to prevent the radioactive leakage to the environment in the case of an internal design basis and beyond design basis accidents. During the initial design, the concrete creep is most important input parameter to be considered for the performance and safety evaluation of containment structure, and hence this work mainly focuses on creep studies.The creep, instantaneous and shrinkage strain in concrete cylindrical specimens and BARCOM test model is experimentally computed from the installed embedded sensors. BARCOM test model consists of cylindrical wall portion headed with dome. The concrete cylindrical specimens and dome of BARCOM test model was cast with identical concrete mix in similar duration and therefore indistinguishable behavior were expected. The identical instantaneous and shrinkage strains are found in concrete cylindrical specimens and dome of BARCOM test model. However due to the aging effect, the dissimilarity in the experimental creep strain for concrete cylindrical specimen and dome of BARCOM test model is observed. The influence of elevation and boundary effect on creep strains of cylindrical wall portion of BARCOM test model is also investigated in this paper.Further, the experimentally observed creep and instantaneous strain are validated with the famous B-3 model for concrete cylindrical specimens and BARCOM test model. The experimentally observed results and predicted through B-3 model are found to be in excellent agreement. A sufficient realistic data on concrete creep for long-time serviceability, durability, long-time stability, safety against collapse is useful for performing consistent non-linear analysis of BARCOM test model is explored. Thus the present work deals with the in-situ creep behavior of concrete structures to develop understanding of the mechanisms of creep, instantaneous and shrinkage behavior on concrete structures. The present formulated study is limited to linear basic creep in which the influence of humidity, temperature effect on creep parameters and superimposition of the cracking strain are not introduced.

Mechanical analysis for prestressed concrete containment vessels under loss of coolant accident

LOCA (Loss Of Coolant Accident) is one of the most important utmost accidents for Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel (PCCV) due to its coupled effect of high temperature and inner pressure. In this paper, heat conduction analysis is used to obtain the LOCA temperature distribution of PCCV. Then the elastic internal force of PCCV under LOCA temperature is analyzed by using both simplified theoretical method and FEM (finite element methods) method. Considering the coupled effect of LOCA temperature, a nonlinear elasto-plasitic analysis is conducted for PCCV under utmost internal pressure considering three failure criteria. Results show that the LOCA temperature distribution is strongly nonlinear along the shell thickness at the early time; the moment result of simplified analysis is well coincident with the one of numerical analysis at weak constraint area; while in the strong constrained area, the value of moments and membrane forces fluctuate dramatically; the simplified and numerical analysis both show that the maximum moment occurs at 6hrs after LOCA.; the strain of PCCV under LOCA temperature is larger than the one of no temperature under elasto-plastic analysis; the LOCA temperature of 6hrs has the greatest influence on the ultimate bearing capacity with 8.43% decrease for failure criteria 1 and 2.65% decrease for failure criteria 3.

Nonlinear time history analysis of a pre-stressed concrete containment vessel model under Japan's March 11 earthquake

To evaluate the behavior of the advanced unbonded pre-stressed concrete containment vessel (UPCCV) for one typical China nuclear power plant under Japan's March 11 earthquake, five nonlinear time history analysis and a nonlinear static analysis of a 1:10 scale UPCCV structure have been carried out with MSC.MARC finite element program. Comparisons between the analytical and experimental results demonstrated that the developed finite element model can predict the earthquake behavior of the UPCCV with fair accuracy. The responses of the 1:10 scale UPCCV subjected to the 11 March 2011 Japan earthquakes recorded at the MYG003 station with the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 781 gal and at the MYG013 station with the PGA of 982 gal were predicted by the dynamic analysis. Finally, a static analysis was performed to seek the ultimate load carrying capacity for the 1:10 scale UPCCV.

Structural Monitoring and Response Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Primary Containment of a Nuclear Power Plant

Before commissioning, Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) containments are tested for their integrity at proof pressure and Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) pressure. During operation, as per the current practice for Indian PHWR containments, in-service Integrated Leakage Rate Test (ILRT) is done once in two years at about one third of LOCA based test pressure. Kaiga Generating Station unit-2 (KGS-2) has been in operation for more than 11 years. For the first time, a periodic ILRT at LOCA pressure (0.86 kg/cm2 (g)) was conducted at KGS-2. During this ILRT, structural monitoring of pre-stressed concrete primary containment was carried out. The deflection and strains at critical locations in the IC were recorded during ILRT mainly to compare the same with the values obtained from analytical study and with those observed during the first ILRT. The strain and deflection measurements were taken using vibrating wire strain gauges (VWSG) and high precision dial gauges respectively connected to data-logger. This technical paper highlights the structural behaviour of KGS-2 primary containment after 11 years of operation.

Over-pressure test on BARCOM pre-stressed concrete containment

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay has organized an International Round Robin Analysis program to carry out the ultimate load capacity assessment of BARC Containment (BARCOM) test model. The test model located in BARC facilities Tarapur; is a 1:4 scale representation of 540MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) pre-stressed concrete inner containment structure of Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) unit 3&4. There are a large number of sensors installed in BARCOM that include vibratory wire strain gauges of embedded and spot-welded type, surface mounted electrical resistance strain gauges, dial gauges, earth pressure cells, tilt meters and high resolution digital camera systems for structural response, crack monitoring and fracture parameter measurement to evaluate the local and global behavior of the containment test model.The model has been tested pneumatically during the low pressure tests (LPTs) followed by proof test (PT) and integrated leakage rate test (ILRT) during commissioning. Further the over pressure test (OPT) has been carried out to establish the failure mode of BARCOM Test-Model. The over-pressure test will be completed shortly to reach the functional failure of the test model. Pre-test evaluation of BARCOM was carried out with the results obtained from the registered international round robin participants in January 2009 followed by the post-test assessment in February 2011. The test results along with the various failure modes related to the structural members – concrete, rebars and tendons identified in terms of prescribed milestones are presented in this paper along with the comparison of the pre-test predictions submitted by the registered participants of the Round Robin Analysis for BARCOM test model.