Innovative Design Concept of Cooling Water Tanks/Basins in Geothermal Power Plants Using Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete with Enhanced Durability

Abstract

The structure presented in this paper is intended to be used as a prototype reservoir for collecting water coming from the cooling tower of a geothermal plant, and is primarily designed to compare the performance of different materials (traditional reinforced concrete and Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC)) as well to assess the performance of different structural solutions (wall with constant thickness versus wall provided with stiffening buttresses). In the absence of specific code provisions, given the novelty of the UHPFRC used, the main properties used for the design were determined through a dedicated experimental campaign (tensile/flexural properties and shrinkage). The main focus of the design was on the Serviceability Limit States, more specifically the requirements regarding water tightness. Given the rather simple structural layout, especially in the compartments where no stiffening buttresses are present, linear elastic analysis was used to determine the internal actions. The nonlinear behavior ensuing from the peculiar tensile constitutive response of the material was taken into account locally, in order to determine the stress level, the depth of the compression zone and the crack width. The performance was finally compared with the reference compartment (made with ordinary reinforced concrete), through on-site observations and measurements.