Multiple Yield and Bounding Surfaces Model for Analysis of Multiple Friction Pendulum System

In order to systematically investigate the mechanical characteristic of a multiple friction pendulum system with more than two concave sliding interfaces and one articulated slider located between these concave sliding interfaces, on the basis of the plasticity theory, a plasticity model called the multiple yield and bounding surfaces model is proposed in addition to analytical formulations derived from the proposed concept of subsystems in this study. The proposed model has two separate groups of multiple yield and bounding surfaces. The first group is adopted to describe the mechanical behavior of the subsystem including the concave sliding interfaces above the articulated slider and the second group is used for modeling the sliding characteristic of the subsystem representing the concave sliding interfaces below the articulated slider. The connection of these two subsystems in series forms the mechanical characteristic of the entire MFPS isolation system. By virtue of the proposed model, the phenomena of the sliding motions of the MFPS isolator with multiple concave sliding interfaces under cyclical loadings can be clearly understood. Analytical results infer that the natural frequency and damping effect of the MFPS isolator with multiple concave sliding interfaces change continually during earthquakes and are controllable through appropriate designs.

Isolation Performance of Intelligent Seismic Isolation System Using Air Bearing

This paper describes three-dimensional isolation performance of seismic isolation system using air bearings. Long period seismic waves having predominant period of from a few seconds to a few ten seconds have recently been observed in various earthquakes. Also resonances of high-rise buildings and sloshing of petroleum tanks in consequence of long period seismic waves have been reported. Therefore the isolation systems having very long natural period or no natural period are required. In a previous paper [1], we proposed an isolation system having no natural period by using air bearings. Additionally we have already reported an introduction of the system, and have investigated horizontal motion during earthquake in the previous paper. It was confirmed by horizontal vibration experiment and simulation in the previous paper that the proposed system had good performance of isolation. However vertical motion should be investigated, because vertical motion varies horizontal frictional force. Therefore this paper describes investigation regarding vertical motion of the proposed system by experiment. At first, a vertical excitation test of the system is carried out so as to investigate vertical dynamic property. Then a three-dimensional vibration test using seismic waves is carried out so as to investigate performance of isolation against three-dimensional seismic waves.

Evaluation Method of U-Bolt Energy Absorption

At domestic PWR plants in Japan, one of the major key issues is earthquake-proof safety [1–3]. Recently, a design procedure using energy absorption, not conventional rigid design, was authorized according to revised review guidelines for aseismic design (JEAC4601). Therefore, we focused on the design technique that utilizes energy absorption effects to reduce the seismic responses of the piping system with U-Bolt, by the static and dynamic tests of simplified piping model supported by U-Bolt. The force-displacement characteristics and a fatigue diagram were obtained by the tests.

Eliminating Conservatism in the Piping System Analysis Process Through Application of a Suite of Locally Appropriate Seismic Input Motions

Seismic analysis is of great importance in the evaluation of nuclear systems due to the heavy influence such loading has on their designs. Current Department of Energy seismic analysis techniques for a nuclear safety-related piping system typically involve application of a single conservative seismic input applied to the entire system [1]. A significant portion of this conservatism comes from the need to address the overlapping uncertainties in the seismic input and in the building response that transmits that input motion to the piping system. The approach presented in this paper addresses these two sources of uncertainty through the application of a suite of 32 earthquake realizations with equal probability of occurrence whose collective performance addresses the total uncertainty while each individual motion represents a single variation of it. It represents an extension of the soil-structure interaction analysis methodology of SEI/ASCE 43-05 [2] from the structure to individual piping components. Because this approach is computationally intensive, automation and other measures have been developed to make such an analysis efficient. These measures are detailed in this paper.

Overview of Seismic Issues in Design Certification and Combined License Application Reviews

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established a new process for licensing nuclear power plants under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” which provides requirements for early site permits (ESPs), standard design certifications (DCs), and combined license (COL) applications. In this process, an application for a COL may incorporate by reference a DC, an ESP, both, or neither. This approach allows for early resolution of safety and environmental issues. The COL review will not reconsider the safety issues resolved by the DC and ESP processes. However, a COL application that incorporates a DC by reference needs to demonstrate that pertinent site-specific parameters are confined within the safety envelopes established by the DC. This paper provides an overview of site parameters related to seismic designs and associated seismic issues encountered in DC and COL application reviews using the 10 CFR Part 52 process. Since DCs treat the seismic design and analysis of nuclear power plant (NPP) structures, systems, and components (SSC) as bounding to future potential sites, the design ground motions and associated site parameters are often conservatively specified, representing envelopes of site-specific seismic hazards and parameters. For a COL applicant to incorporate a DC by reference, it needs to demonstrate that the site-specific hazard in terms of ground motion response spectra (GMRS) is enveloped by the certified design response spectra of the DC. It also needs to demonstrate that the site-specific seismic parameters, such as foundation-bearing capacities, soil profiles, and the like, are confined within the site parameter envelopes established by the DC. For the noncertified portion of the plant SSCs, the COL applicant should perform the seismic design and analysis with respect to the site-specific GMRS and associated site parameters. This paper discusses the seismic issues encountered in the safety reviews of DC and COL applications. Practical issues dealing with comparing site-specific features to the standard designs and lessons learned are also discussed.

Dynamic Buckling Analysis of Cylindrical Water Storage Tanks: A New Simulation Method Considering Coupled Vibration Between Fluid and Structure

This paper proposes a dynamic buckling analysis method which can accurately simulate the buckling behavior of cylindrical water storage tanks during an earthquake. The proposed method takes into account the behavior of oval-type vibration as well as beam-type vibration, which are coupled vibrations between the shell structure of the tank and the water stored in the tank. In the proposed method, both the tank and the stored water are three-dimensionally modeled by finite elements and time history analysis is conducted. Moreover, coupled analysis between the fluid and structure and large deformation analysis to the shell structure of the tank are also considered. The analytical results by the proposed method agreed well with those of experiments regarding occurrence of oval-type vibration, mode of buckling and buckling load. The method can accurately simulate the seismic response including the coupled vibrations and the process of damage such as buckling of the cylindrical water storage tank during an earthquake. In conclusion, the proposed dynamic buckling analysis method can quantitatively evaluate the seismic performance of water storage tanks such as seismic safety margin.

Research and Development of Damping Device for Light Weight Mechanical Structure Using Damping Effect Caused by Eddy Current

A base-isolation and vibration control technique has been applied positively to architectural and civil structures after Kobe earthquake, and now the techniques are adopted as general vibration reduction technique for many structures. In such situation, an application of the vibration attenuation device to the small-scale structure has been carried out actively in recent years. Especially, in the important institution of the cities such as a refuge place, a hospital, a school, an information and a communication institution where function maintenance is needed, it is important to maintain its performance of the machinery and equipment in the facility with an upgrade of structural seismic safety. Moreover, in the future, upgrading of seismic safety of the particular equipments is urgent business. This study has been examined a low cost and compact damping device for base-isolation system of light weight mechanical structures like a computer server rack. In this paper, the experimental and analytical results on the basic performances of the damping device using damping effect by Eddy-Current.

Energy Dissipation Behavior of an Autonomous Controller for Semi-Active Control Device

In this research, autonomous controller is developed to provide the function of “Sensing-Computing-Transferring” for improving of energy dissipation capability of semi-active control device. This proposed controller has qualifications of detecting structural response under the excitation of earthquake; it depends on the control law to produce control order to adjust and control the action of semi-active control damper. The principle of this controller is: 1.) autonomous controller and damper-added stiffness element are parallel connection; 2.) the direction of pressure force and velocity moving direction of structure are changed simultaneously by this controller; 3.) the action of switching direction of damper has been finished when the tiny displacement of structure is happened by reverse process of moving direction of structure. Practically, this controller was simulated by connecting soft springs, damper and actuator in serial. The experimental results indicate that the function and energy-dissipating behavior of this proposed controller is similar to traditional semi-active controller except that this controller can switch the damper status at the right moment. This proposed controller can replace the detector, central control computer and damping controller included in original semi-active control system. The advantages of this developed autonomous controller are: 1.) low manufacturing cost; 2.) low requirement of system maintenance; 3) high reliability of control system.

Seismic Qualification by Testing for Electrical and Active Mechanical Equipment to be Installed in Hard-Rock High Frequency Sites

All electric and active mechanical equipment important to safety must be seismically qualified by either analysis, testing, or a combination of both. The general requirements for seismic qualification of electric and active mechanical equipment in nuclear power plants are delineated in Appendix S to Title 10, Part 50, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 50), item 52.47(20) of 10 CFR 52.47, and Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 100. The staff at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recognized that the Certified Design Ground Motion may be exceeded by the site-specific ground motion. The exceedances are generally in the high-frequency range for the Central and Eastern US sites. For equipment seismic qualification consideration, the exceedances must be addressed at both the ground level and the floor level where the equipment is located. Thus, the in-structure response spectra at some locations may exceed those in-structure response spectra generated by the certified seismic design response spectra. The U.S. nuclear industry and the NRC have initiated activities to address this issue. Two scenarios that revealed themselves during the review activities of the design certification and combined license applications for new reactors will be expounded upon in the paper. In Case I, equipment seismic qualification has been approved for a certified design and equipment is to be installed at a hard-rock high frequency (HRHF) site with certified seismic design response spectra (CSDRS) exceeded by the Ground Motion Response Spectra (GMRS) of the hard-rock site. In Case II, equipment seismic qualification has not been approved for a design certification and there is an application with GMRS exceeding the not-yet-approved CSDRS. In the paper, the staff will begin the discussion with the regulatory requirements for seismic qualification of electric and mechanical equipment. The focus of the paper is to identify the staff concern and illustrate the resolution between the NRC staff and an applicant on the seismic qualification of equipment by testing, in particular for equipment to be installed in hard-rock high frequency sites, to meet the regulatory requirements.

Seismic Performance of Vibration Control Device That Generates Power

In a previous paper the authors proposed a semi-active vibration control device (VCD) that generates power. The device utilizes a ball screw, and has inertial and damping forces. The damping coefficient is adjusted by altering resistance at the terminal of the power generator. A small-scale VCD was manufactured for experimental testing. Frequency responses of a small-scale spring mass structure were measured in order to confirm the effects of vibration suppression within a wide range of frequencies. In this paper, as the next step, vibration tests using a benchmark structure with an installed VCD that has a 30 kN capacity are carried out at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan. The benchmark structure has three stories with a 3 m height and a mass of 6 tons at each floor level for a total height and weight of 9 m and 18 tons, respectively. The VCDs are installed between adjacent floors with steel chevron braces. A simple control law that is based on a minimized Lyapunov function and employs bang-bang operation is used as a variable current controller instead of the modifying the resistance level of the VCD. Scaled earthquake motions including the Imperial Valley El Centro north-south component that is normalized to be a peak level of 0.5 m/s2, are applied to the base of the steel framed structure in the horizontal direction by a shaking table. Experimental responses of each floor for the uncontrolled and controlled cases are compared with analytical responses, and effects of vibration suppression for the large-scale model are discussed quantitatively.