Numerical Study on the Seismic Performance of a Steel–Concrete Hybrid Supporting Structure in Thermal Power Plants

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 8; no. 2; p. 294
• Main Authors: Wang, Bo, Wu, Tao, Dai, Huijuan, Bai, Guoliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 16.02.2018
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Concrete; Condensers; Condensers (liquefiers); Deformation; Dynamic characteristics; Dynamic structural analysis; Dynamic tests; Earthquake damage; Earthquakes; hybrid structure; Lateral displacement; Nonlinear analysis; numerical modeling; Power plants; pseudo-dynamic test; Reinforced concrete; Reinforcement (structures); Seismic activity; Seismic design; Seismic engineering; seismic performance; Seismic response; Seismology; Steel; Stiffness; Structural steels; Thermal power; thermal power plant (TPP); Thermal power plants; Thermoelectricity
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app8020294

This paper presents the numerical investigation on the seismic performance of a steel–concrete hybrid structure consisting of reinforced concrete (RC) tubular columns and steel braced truss with A-shaped steel frames, which is a novel supporting structural system to house air-cooled condensers (ACC) in large-capacity thermal power plants (TPPs). First, the finite element (FE) modeling approach for this hybrid structure using the software ABAQUS was validated by a range of pseudo-dynamic tests (PDTs) performed on a 1/8-scaled sub-structure. The failure process, lateral displacement responses, changing rules of dynamic characteristic parameters and lateral stiffness with increase of peak ground acceleration (PGA) were presented here. Then, nonlinear time-history analysis of the prototype structure was carried out. The dynamic characteristics, base shear force, lateral deformation capacity, stiffness deterioration and damage characteristics were investigated. Despite the structural complexity and irregularity, both experimental and numerical results indicate that the overall seismic performance of this steel–concrete hybrid supporting structure meets the seismic design requirements with respect to the high-intensity earthquakes.