10-05: Complex Structural Analysis Simplifies Repair Phasing In Restoration

Concrete hyperbolic cooling towers built three to four decades back which have exposure to corrosion causing chlorides are susceptible to deterioration over a period of time.  Such cooling towers are thin shell structures compared to their geometric proportions.  As such, when a large areas of concrete gets removed from such structures during the repair work, their structural integrity may be compromised when subjected to lateral loads due to hurricanes and earthquakes. For the repair work to proceed in an efficient and safe manner, concrete removal and replacement must follow certain protocols determined using some complex structural analytical techniques.