No abstract

In the case of exceptional accidents, nuclear containment structures may be submitted to an internal temperature increase. This may have an influence on the prestressed concrete structures behavior regarding both its mechanical performance and its porosity. The presented study got interested on the impact that a temperature increase may have on the mechanical behavior of the steel reinforcement for both prestressing strands and rebars. In order to remain in realistic situations, it was chosen to study temperatures between 20°C and 140°C. Some experimental investigations regarding the tensile behaviour of steel rebars and their adherence within concrete will first be presented. Then, some investigations on steel strands will be described: some tensile tests at different temperatures, and some relaxation tests to check how the level of prestress loss may be affected by the temperature. This experimental study is part of a national French project (MACENA) aiming at assessing the impact of an accident on the behavior of nuclear containment structures. The gathered experimental data will be used for their damage assessment.

Abstract. The aim of this study is the characterization of hot-dip galvanized S355K2+N steel plates used as components for engineering civil structures. Two thin zinc coatings with a thickness of 145+/-14 µm and 329+/-23 µm, were developed at the surface of the plates. Several experimental techniques were performed to study the microstructure, the chemical composition at the surface of the galvanized plates. The residual stress field was also evaluated in the coatings and the top surface of the plates using the incremental hole drilling method, in the rolling and the transverse directions. The results show the presence of tensile stresses and compressive stresses respectively in the coating and the substrate.