Prediction of air and steam leak rate through cracked reinforced concrete panels

The leak rate prediction of air and steam through a cracked concrete wall is an extremely important issue in assessing the safety of a nuclear reactor containment building. Such a problem requires a multidisciplinary approach involving both the non-linear analysis of the structure, and the thermodynamics aspects related to the flow of a gas through a conduit. In the present paper, some of the available leak rate evaluation formulae are reviewed, and an application to the prediction of the leak rate of either dry air or air + steam mixture through a cracked concrete panel is presented. Finally, in order to validate the numerical procedure herein adopted and to give some indication on the relative merit of the different leak rate formulae considered, the results of the numerical application are compared against leak rate values measured during an experimental test carried out at the ISMES laboratory.