Concrete Aging and Degradation
Goal
This research area’s fundamental objective is to understand and predict the effects of irradiation on concrete and understand the response of this material to different conditions of temperature, radiation dose, humidity, load and creep by looking into the effects on its main components: cement paste and aggregates. Research also aims at providing risk analysis of concrete performance under both radiation environments and accidental scenarios, such as seismic events and loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA).
Outcome
The research will provide industry with methods and tools to predict irradiation damage via physics-based simulations. These simulations consider the concrete composition and plant operating conditions. Methods and tools to characterize the concrete composition and effects of irradiation on concrete physical properties are also investigated to inform and validate the predictive models.
Planned Major Accomplishments
- Assess the response of concrete structures to a variety of conditions – neutron dose, gamma dose, humidity, temperature, in-service mechanical loading – that are relevant to those in the biological shields of light water reactors during their lifetime, including extended operation conditions.
- Develop methodological guidelines for industry based on characterization methods to assess susceptibility of concrete formulations to irradiation.
- Develop methodological guidelines for industry to predict and model the expected radiation damage of their concrete formulations at extended lifetimes.
