enfr

New how-to document for Civil Engineering

2 December 2013

by S. Michel-Ponnelle, EDF R&D / AMA

Behind the words "Civil Engineering calculations" hide calculations on structures with very different dimensions and characteristics (specimens, beams, buildings, …) but above all, calculations whose purpose are very different : design of a structure, prediction of long-term ageing, crack analysis, seismic analysis, margins reassessment. It is the goal of the engineer to find the best compromise between complexity, the cost of the study and the level of accuracy of its results by choosing correctly the type of analysis, finite elements and constitutive laws, knowing that a wide range is available in Code_Aster.

The objective of the new document U2.03.07, « Overview of available modelling tools to analyse Civil Engineering structures made of concrete », is to provide an overview of the modelling capabilities available to the user based on the analyses he wishes to conduct in Civil Engineering. Several choices exist and this document is not a substitute for the engineer’s analysis but rather a companion to help select modelling options, depending on the tools available, and direct to more specific documents.

Image 1 : Civil works in the reactor building on the site of the EPR at Flamanville in March 2010 (Credit : EDF - Alexis Morin)