On structural finite element modeling strategies and their influence on the optimization of final constructability of reinforced concrete structures

Guillaume Hervé-Secourgeon (1, 2) , Estelle Hervé-Secourgeon (3, 2) , Marina Bottoni (3, 4) , François Voldoire (3, 4) , Mihaja Razafimbelo (3, 2) , Fabrice Gatuingt (4) , Cécile Oliver Oliver-Leblond (2) , Tulio Honorio (2) , Ahmad Kameh (5) , Souheil Habib (3, 4) , Florian Escoffier (3, 4)

1 EDF R&D, EDF Lab Paris-Saclay
2 LMT - Laboratoire de mécanique et technologie
3 EDF R&D, EDF Lab Paris-Saclay
4 IMSIA - UMR 9219 - Institut des Sciences de la mécanique et Applications industrielles
5 ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech

The design of nuclear civil structures based on rules in European standards makes extensive use of the Finite Element Method (FEM). The size and complexity of the models are continuously increasing. Lately, the post-processing of the FEM results has centered the engineers' contribution on analyzing the reinforcement density produced using automated methods dealing with shell or plate models, which often leads to excessive plate use even in D-regions (discontinuity or disturbance region). This practice is particularly problematic for nuclear structures, which exhibit a large set of massive parts due to radiation protection requirements in many areas such as the reactor pit, the raft, or the

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Civil Engineering

Guillaume Hervé-Secourgeon, Estelle Hervé-Secourgeon, Marina Bottoni, François Voldoire, Mihaja Razafimbelo, et al.. On structural finite element modeling strategies and their influence on the optimization of final constructability of reinforced concrete structures. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 2021, 385, pp.111541. ⟨10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111541⟩. ⟨hal-03420820⟩