Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF STEEL CONCRETE COMPOSITE WALLS OF

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT STRUCTURES
Sandeep Chaudhary1, Ahmer Ali2, Dookie Kim2, Sung Gook Cho 3
1
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, INDIA
2
Kunsan National University, Kunsan, South KOREA
3
R&D Center, JACE KOREA Company, Gyeonggi-do, South KOREA
E-mail of corresponding author: sandeep.nitjaipur@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Steel concrete composite construction is now being recognized as a promising technology for application in
nuclear power plants as it is faster, economical, impact resistant and suitable for modular construction. The walls of
the containment vessel and shield building are being constructed by steel concrete composite construction in some
countries. The concrete is sandwiched between two steel plates with steel studs to ensure the composite action. The
steel plates while acting as structural members, also act as stay-in-place formwork. Limited studies are, however,
available for the seismic behavior of such composite walls and their performance, as compared to conventional
reinforced concrete (RC) walls. The seismic analysis and behavior of steel concrete composite walls therefore need
to be studied and compared with the behavior of RC walls. Inelastic seismic analysis of steel concrete composite
walls is carried out in the present paper. The analysis is carried out using the finite element software ABAQUS and
the results are compared with RC walls. Modal and time history analysis is carried out for both types of the shear
walls. Analysis is carried out for a particular earthquake record to establish the seismic performance. The cracking
of concrete and yielding of steel have been taken into account in the material modeling. The finite element model is
validated with the experimental results available else where in literature for modal analysis and the results are found
to be in reasonable agreement. Based on the results obtained for the natural frequency and displacements, it is found
that the steel concrete composite walls perform better as compared to the conventional RC walls. Similar type of
studies may be carried out for other type of composite structures in nuclear power plants to establish their seismic
performance.
INTRODUCTION
Recently, there has been an increasing use of steel concrete composite shear walls in which the concrete is
sandwiched between two steel plates with steel studs to ensure the composite action. These walls act as structural
members as they are able to resist lateral loads. The additional advantage is that these walls act as stay in place
formworks also.
A number of studies have been reported for the seismic behavior of concrete walls. Shaking table tests
were conducted by Basu and Roshan [1] on the scaled down model of a concrete wall and a deflection based method
was proposed for the prediction of cracks [1]. The dynamic behavior of a 3D-panel single story system was reported
by Rezaifar et al. [2]. The shaking table tests were performed to investigate the changes in dynamic properties of the
model structure subjected to low level, diagnostic excitations or ambient vibrations. The natural frequency of the
system was obtained using the transfer functions at the top of the cabinet. The natural frequency was found to be
reduced after a certain value of PGA. The fall of natural frequency with increasing damage was attributed to the
shear and bending stiffness of walls. The panel system considered in the study was found to be more rigid than
concrete flexural frame and shear wall combined system [2]. Asfur and Bruin [3] carried out analytical studies for
the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete shear wall tested by NUPEC [4] and compared the results. A three
dimensional finite element model of reinforced concrete shear wall subjected to ultimate load capacity was
presented by Singh and Kushwah [5] for the static and dynamic loads. The model was used to analyse a shear wall
tested by NUPEC [4] and the results were found to be in good agreement.
Studies have been reported on the behavior of steel-concrete composite shear walls also. Tong et al. [6]
carried out experimental studies on the cyclic behavior of a composite structural system consisting of partially
restrained steel frames with reinforced concrete infill walls. It was assumed that the gravity loads and overturning
moments are resisted by the steel columns and girders, whereas, shear is resisted by reinforced concrete infill walls.
Based on the experimental studies carried out, the system was found to have lateral strength for the earthquake loads
and also good stiffness for keeping the drift under the control. Hossain and Wright [7] carried out studies on a new
type of composite wall consisting of concrete in filled between two profiled sheets. Static tests were carried out on
1

Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

small scale models (one sixth scale) to obtain load-deflection curves, strength, failure modes, strains and interaction
properties. The interaction between steel sheet and concrete core was found to influence the behavior of the walls. It
was concluded that the adequate boundary condition between sheeting and concrete core can lead to high shear
resistance. The shear strength of composite wall was found to be higher than that of the individual components. Gan
et al. [8] carried out the studies for the seismic behavior of a typical type of steel plate reinforced concrete shear
walls formed by inserting the steel plates and steel section into the reinforced concrete walls. The investigation was
carried out on a series of 1:2 scale specimens which were loaded by constant axial compression and cyclic lateral
force. It was found that the such type of walls have larger shear stiffness as compared to traditional reinforced
concrete walls. Another type of composite shear walls which consists of steel plate shear walls with reinforced
concrete walls attached to one or both sides of the steel plate were investigated by Astaneh-Asl and Zhao [9].
Recently, theoretical and experimental studies on composite steel-concrete shear walls with vertical steel encased
profiles have been presented by Dan et al. [10]. Five different types of shear walls with steel encased profile and one
reinforced concrete wall were proposed and tested. The shear studs for the composite walls were designed to ensure
zero slip. The shear walls with steel encased profile showed bending failure mode, with crushing of compressed
concrete and tearing of the tensioned steel [10]. It was also found by Dan et al. [10] that the composite walls had a
higher initial stiffness than the reinforced concrete wall and all the tested composite steel reinforced concrete walls
dissipated more energy than the reinforced concrete walls.
The above studies indicate the better performance of different types of composite shear walls in comparison
to reinforced concrete walls. However, still there is a need for detailed comparative study of dynamic behavior of
the reinforced concrete shear wall and the steel-concrete composite shear wall consisting of concrete sandwiched
between two steel plates.
In this paper, studies have been carried out to compare the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete and
steel-concrete composite shear walls. The analysis is carried out using the finite element software ABAQUS. Modal
analysis and time history analysis have been carried out for both types of the walls. A typical Koyna earthquake has
been considered for the seismic analysis. The cracking of concrete and yielding of steel have been taken into account
in the material modeling. The finite element model is validated with the experimental result available else where in
literature for modal analysis and the results are found to be in reasonable agreement. Based on the results obtained
for the natural frequency and displacements, it is found that the steel concrete composite walls perform better as
compared to the conventional RC walls.
NUMERICAL STUDY USING FINITE ELEMENT MODEL
Three types of shear walls have been considered for the study. First type of shear wall (SW1) is reinforced
concrete shear wall. Second type of shear wall (SW2) is steel-concrete composite shear wall with flexible
connection. The third type of shear wall (SW3) is steel-concrete composite shear wall with rigid connection. The
static and dynamic analyses of the shear walls are carried out using the finite element software ABAQUS.

(a)
(b)
dimensions in mm
Fig. 1. Shear walls considered for numerical study: (a) Reinforced concrete wall (SW1); (b) Steel-concrete
composite walls (SW2 and SW3)

dimensions in mm

Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

The steel plates and the concrete wall both have been modeled as solid C3D20R elements (20-noded
quadratic brick elements with reduced integration). The reinforcement in the concrete wall has been considered by
steel plates of equivalent area. A linear load-slip relationship, at service loads, has been assumed for the shear
connectors in shear wall SW2. The springs have been used to model the shear connections [Fig. 2(a)].The stiffness
of the springs in SW2 has been considered as 200 kN/mm with a 200 mm c/c spacing along the width and 300 mm
c/c spacing along the height. For shear wall SW3, the connection between concrete and steel is assumed to be tie
type thereby allowing zero slip between steel and concrete [Fig. 2(b)].

(a)
(b)
Fig. 2. Steel-concrete connection; (a) Shear connectors in SW2; (b) Tie connection in SW3
Concrete has been modeled as an elasticplastic material in compression. The stressstrain relationship for
concrete in uniaxial compression has been adopted as per Carreira and Chu [11]:
f c' ( c / c' )
(1)
c =
1 + ( c / c' )
where, c = compressive stress in concrete,

c = strain in concrete,

f c' = cylinder compressive strength of concrete,

c' = strain corresponding to f c' and is given by

3

= f c' / 32.4 + 1.55

(2)

30
25

Stress (N/mm2)

20
15
10
5
0
0

0.001

0.002

0.003

0.004

0.005

Strain

Fig. 3 Stress-strain curve of concrete in compression

Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

The strain 'c is taken as 0.002. The stressstrain behaviour of concrete in compression is assumed to be
linearly elastic up to 0.4 f c' . The plastic strain was considered beyond this region to define the stressstrain
relationship of concrete in the finite element model. Concrete in tension is considered as a linearelastic material
until the uniaxial tensile stress, at which concrete cracks. A linear softening model is used to represent the postfailure behaviour in tension. The behaviour of the concrete at cracking was modeled by using Concrete Smeared
Cracking option in ABAQUS. The steel sections were modeled as an elasticplastic material with strain hardening.
A bilinear stressstrain relationship [12] was used for steel sections and rebar. The properties considered for steel
are: Yield stress, f sy =265 N/mm2, Ultimate strength, f su =410 N/mm2, Youngss modulus, Es =205 103 N/mm2,
Poissons ratio, =0.3, Ultimate strain, su =0.25.
The model for frequency analysis was validated in a limiting case of reinforced concrete shear wall (in
absence of experimental results for composite shear wall) tested by NUPEC [4] and shown in Fig. 4(a). The material
properties in this case were taken as given by NUPEC [4]. The first natural frequency from the finite element was
obtained as 12.7 Hz which is in reasonable agreement with the natural frequency obtained by experiments (13.2 Hz).

Point Mass

2020

dimensions in mm

(b)
(b)
Fig. 4 Shear wall tested by NUPEC and considered for validation: (a) Geometry; (b) FE model
The numerical studies for the shear walls SW1-SW3 were then carried out. A modal analysis was carried
out to obtain the natural frequency of all three types of shear walls. The results are shown in Table 1. It is observed
that the natural frequency of the composite wall with rigid connections is highest followed by reinforced concrete
wall and composite wall with flexible connection.
Table 1: Natural frequency of shear walls

Wall
Reinforced Concrete (SW1)
Composite with flexible connection (SW2)
Composite with rigid connection (SW3)

I
11.97
10.95
12.40

Natural Frequency
II
III
IV
12.50 37.21 61.80
12.37 19.63 22.70
15.22 44.26 62.04

The shear walls are assumed to be subjected to Koyna earthquake (Fig. 6). The displacements of a
particular node on the top of the shear wall are shown in Fig. 7. It is observed that though the difference is less, but
the displacement is lowest for the composite wall with rigid connection (SW3) followed by RC wall (SW1) and
composite wall with flexible connection (SW2).

Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

(a)
(b)
Fig. 6 : Koyna earthquake: (a) Transverse; and (b) Vertical ground accelerations [13]

300
SW1

250

SW2

displacement(mm)

200

SW3

150
100
50
0
0

10

50
100

Time(sec)

150

Fig. 7. Top displacement time history of shear walls subjected to Koyna earthquake
The damage in concrete due to cracking was also noted at t=4 seconds (time of maximum acceleration) for
all the three types of shear walls. The damage is shown in Fig. 8. It is seen from the figure that the damage is more
in case of reinforced concrete wall (SW1), followed by composite wall with flexible connection (SW2) and
composite wall with rigid connection (SW3).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. Damage in concrete due to cracking at time t=4sec in (a) SW1; (b)SW2; and (c) SW3

(c)

Transactions, SMiRT 21, 6-11 November, 2011, New Delhi, India

Div-V: Paper ID# 499

CONCLUSION

Studies were carried out to compare the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete and steel-concrete
composite shear walls. Modal analysis and time history analyses were carried out using the finite element software
ABAQUS. The natural frequency of the composite wall with rigid connection between steel and concrete was found
to be higher than that of the reinforced concrete shear wall which shows that the composite walls are more rigid than
the reinforced concrete shear walls. The displacements at the top of the shear wall were found to be more for the
reinforced concrete walls as compared to the composite walls which again proved that the composite walls can be
quite effective in controlling the drift. The concrete was found to be more damaged, due to cracking, in case of
reinforced concrete wall than the composite walls. The composite walls can therefore be a good alternative of the
conventional reinforced concrete shear walls for high rise structures and nuclear power plants.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research was supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Korea Institute of Energy
Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) as a part of the Nuclear R&D Program (No. 20101620100230). The
authors would like to express their appreciation for the financial support.

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