Margins to failure - Category-I structures program: background and experimental program plan

The background and justification for the Margins to Failure - Category-I Structures Program are presented. The results of a survey of selected Architect/Engineering firms engaged in the design of nuclear power plant facilities are included. Computer codes and analytical methods that are used, or may be useful, in assessing the margin to failure of Category-I structures are reviewed. An experimental program plan, whose goal is to obtain information about structural behavior at ultimate load, is proposed. This information is needed to make more reliable assessments of margins to failure. The proposed experimental structures are scaled reinforced concrete shear walls and scale model building systems. This report includes discussions of types of loadings, test procedures, data interpretation, and test plans