Effect of Thermal Cycling on the Strength and Texture of Concrete for Nuclear Safety Structures

Abstract

The effect of thermal cycling (freezing and thawing) on the texture and strength of two types of concrete is studied: 1. Concrete used for a containment structure at NPP Temelín (Czech Republic) - so-called TEMELÍN concrete.2. Highly resistant PENLY concrete, which was used as a standard because of its high quality, proved by the research carried out in a European Commission project. The results for the two samples of concrete are compared.

Keywords

• Concrete
• thermal cycling
• texture
• strength
• porosity