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G. Meschke, T. Huemer, C. Kropik, H.A. Mang:
"Design of the Strengthening of a Cracked Cooling Tower Shell on the Basis of Nonlinear FE-Analysis";
in: "Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Modelling of Concrete Structres (EURO-C 1994)", Pineridge Press, Swansea, 1994, 689 - 701.

Nonlinear FE-analyses based on realistic constitutive models are used for the design of the strengthening of a 30 years old cracked cooling tower made of reinforced concrete. The present state of the cooling tower shell is characterized by a large number of long, thermally induced meridional cracks. The degree and the spatial distribution of the cracks and of corrosion of the reinforcement are accounted for. From comparative ultimate load analyses, a repair based on attaching two stiffening rings to the shell was found to result in a sufficient degree of safety against collapse of the structure within the residual lifetime of 25 years. The paper contains the numerical evaluation of the safety coefficient of the unstiffened and of the stiffened shell and a description of the design of the rings and their connection to the shell.

Keywords: cooling tower, strengthening, crack, fem, retrofitting, shell, FE, cracked, nonlinear