Fire damage evaluation and repairs for reinforced concrete turbine table top foundation, Durango, Mexico

摘要

On May 2011, a fire occurred on one of the two units of a fossil turbine power plant, located in the State of Durango, Mexico. The fire lasted for almost 2 hours before it was extinguished by firefighters. Temperatures exceeded 800℃. During the investigations for establishing the causes of the fire, the evaluation of the reinforced concrete table top foundation of the turbine was also conducted. The damage must be known in order to propose demolition or rehabilitation. This paper presents the studies that were done for evaluating the table top foundation, which included visual inspection, pulse velocity measurement, concrete powder and core sampling, laboratory testing to verify mechanical properties (compressive strength and elastic modulus), determination of pH and X-ray fluorescence analysis. Thermal analysis of the concrete beam more exposed to the heat of the fire was also done. Results of the evaluation and analysis helped to establish the rehabilitation procedures, which are in process, and are discussed is this paper.