Characterizing the effects of elevated temperature on the air void pore structure of advanced gas-cooled reactor pressure vessel concrete using x-ray computed tomography

X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) has been applied to nondestructively characterise changes in the microstructure of a concrete used in the pressure vessel structure of Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGR) in the UK. Concrete specimens were conditioned at temperatures of 105 C and 250 C, to simulate the maximum thermal load expected to occur during a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). Following thermal treatment, these specimens along with an unconditioned control sample were characterised using micro-focus X-ray CT with a spatial resolution of 14.6 microns. The results indicate that the air void pore structure of the specimens experienced significant volume changes as a result of the increasing temperature. The increase in the porous volume was more prevalent at 250 C. Alterations in air void size distributions were characterized with respect to the unconditioned control specimen. These findings appear to correlate with changes in the uni-axial compressive strength of the conditioned concrete. (authors)