Benchmark VERCORS 2022: blind prediction of time-dependent behavior of concrete containment building with low and high-fidelity models

Abstract

The VERCORS program aims to acquire an extensive experimental dataset collected to provide a solid basis for numerical modeling of concrete containment buildings (CCBs). In order to cover the entire life-span of a real containment, the measurements are done on 3× smaller mock-up which leads to 9-fold acceleration of all processes related to drying. The goal for the participants of the third VERCORS benchmark was to predict the behaviour of the CCB based on standard laboratory measurements on VERCORS concrete. The previous paper [1] presented the calibration procedure of material models for moisture transport and time-dependent behavior of concrete and summarized the results obtained with a computationally efficient low-fidelity model (LFM). The present paper compares the responses of the LFM and a high-fidelity model (HFM) with a detailed geometry of the entire containment and presents a comparison with the experimental data collected over the last 8 years on the VERCORS mockup.