PACE 1450 EXP an experimental setup to study the mechanical behaviour of a standard zone of prestressed reinforced concrete containment

The PACE 1450 experimental project is an intermediate sized experiment to investigate the behaviour of a curved specimen which is representative for the prestressed containment of a 1450 MWe nuclear power plant. The specimen is loaded by air pressure simulating the internal pressure within the reactor containment under inspection and accidental conditions. The resulting ring tensile stresses of the cylindrical part of the containment are applied externally by eight hydraulic jacks. The initial prestressing of the specimen is realised in such a way that a decreasing of the prestressing force for the purpose of simulating the aging of the structure is possible. The mechanical part of the facility is designed in a way that with only slight modification also specimen with a different curvature can be tested under similar conditions within the capabilities of the set-up. The test campaign has been successfully started and is still running. Within the current project the specimen will be tested in 4 Runs which will culminate in a test with a pressure of 7 bar absolute at a temperature of 180 Celsius degrees. Further tests with air-steam-mixtures are possible but not yet decided