Full-scale leak-rate tests of concrete containment wall elements

The tests described in this report are part of an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) program to provide a test-verified analytical method for estimating capacities of concrete reactor containment buildings. The three-phase testing program being performed at Construction Technology Laboratories will determine strength, deformation characteristics, and air leak-rates of specimens representing half-thickness and full scale elements from the walls of reinforced and prestressed concrete reactor containment buildings. Applied loads are representative of those occurring during an extreme overpressurization beyond a design basis accident. Results from this testing program are being used to confirm analytical models for predicting strength and deformation of containment walls. This analytical modeling is being conducted by others in a separate parallel investigation sponsored by EPRI