Seismic Analysis of Above Ground Piping in Process Plant

The recent natural calamities, especially earthquakes, are making engineering design requirements stringent. The Process Plant Piping is no exception to it. Analyzing the seismic effect by ‘Static Equivalent Method’ is a common practice compared to performing ‘Dynamic Analysis’. This paper starts with the basic reason of earthquake and its effect on the above ground piping system. Further it compares between the results opted based on computer based ‘Spectrum Analysis (Dynamic Analysis) Method’ and ‘Static Equivalent Method’ as per the requirements of ASCE 7. One of the assumptions in Static or Dynamic seismic analysis is — ‘Pipe supports are rigid’. However, in reality the supports, especially structural supports, show elastic behavior based on their material and geometric properties. At the end, this paper compares between the results of seismic analysis performed by considering ‘Supports as rigid’ and ‘Supports as elastic’ and comments on it along with minimum requirements for safe design.

Periodic Materials-Based 3D Seismic Base Isolators for Nuclear Power Plants

The concept of periodic materials, based on solid state physics theory, is applied to earthquake engineering. The periodic material is a material which possesses distinct characteristics that do not allow waves with certain frequencies to be transmitted through; therefore, this material can be used in structural foundations to block unwanted seismic waves with certain frequencies. The frequency band of periodic material that can filter out waves is called the band gap, and the structural foundation made of periodic material is referred to as the periodic foundation. In designing a periodic foundation, the first step is to match band gaps of the periodic foundation with the natural frequencies of the superstructure. This is an iterative process. Starting with a design of the periodic foundation, the band gaps are identified by performing finite element analyses using ABAQUS. This design process is repeated until the band gaps match natural frequencies of the superstructure, and the field tests of a scaled specimen are conducted to validate the design. This is an on-going research project. Presented in this paper are the preliminary results, which show that the three dimensional periodic foundation is a promising and effective way to mitigate structural damage caused by earthquake excitations.

Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities: Part 6 — Scaled Tests to Obtain Basic Characteristics of Lead Rubber Bearing

This paper provides a series comprising the “Development of Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities”. Part 6 presents scaled tests for Lead Rubber Bearing (LRB) newly developed for this project. Following tests are performed to obtain the basic characteristics of LRB,. (1) Horizontal and Vertical Simultaneous Loading Test: LRBs with diameter of 250mm are tested dynamically under simultaneous axial and lateral loading. The hysteresis characteristics is not changed under compressive load although it is changed under tensile load. (2) Basic Break Test: LRBs with a diameter of 800mm are tested statically under various combinations of axial and lateral forces. The hysteresis characteristics model of LRB is determined by this test. It is confirmed that the breaking strain of LRB under compression load exceeds 450%. (3) Horizontal Hardening and Vertical Softening Test: For LRBs with a diameter of 1200 mm, 75% scale of actual LRB are tested statically for horizontal hardening and vertical softening regions. It is confirmed that the hysteresis model which is developed by smaller LRBs is applicable to these large scale models.

Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities: Part 2 — Application of CCFS Method to the Multiply Supported Systems

This paper provides a part of series of “Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities”. Paper is focused on the seismic evaluation method of the multiply supported systems, as the one of the design methodology adopted in the equipment and piping system of the seismic isolated nuclear power plant in Japan. Many of the piping systems are multiply supported over different floor levels in the reactor building, and some of the piping systems are carried over to the adjacent building. Although Independent Support Motion (ISM) method has been widely applied in such a multiply supported seismic design of nuclear power plant, it is noted that the shortcoming of ignoring correlations between each excitations is frequently misleaded to the over-estimated design. Application of Cross-oscillator, Cross-Floor response Spectrum (CCFS) method, proposed by A. Asfura and A. D. Kiureghian[1] shall be considered to be the excellent solution to the problems as mentioned above. So, we have introduced the algorithm of CCFS method to the FEM program. The seismic responses of the benchmark model of multiply supported piping system are evaluated under various combination methods of ISM and CCFS, comparing to the exact solutions of Time History analysis method. As the result, it is demonstrated that the CCFS method shows excellent agreement to the responses of Time History analysis, and the CCFS method shall be one of the effective and practical design method of multiply supported systems.

Investigation on Restraint Capability of Pipe Support Used as Anchor in Piping System

The authors have developed a new pipe support, which is intended for use as an anchor of piping system in power plants. This anchor type support takes a pipe between two-tiered metal blocks and ideally restraints the pipe movement with six degrees of freedom, namely all directions of the piping movement. The four bolts adequately join the two-tiered metal block of the anchor type support with the pipe that is not subjected to unnecessary stress. The internal shape of the two-tiered metal block is designed to stabilize the pipe firmly by increasing area of contact between the pipe and the support. Developing the four-point support design for the internal shape of the blocks has also reduced the stress on the pipe. The restraint forces and restraint moments of the support have been investigated and the verification testing has been conducted for the restraining capability. The relaxation of the bolted joint over time and thermal influence on the relaxation has been also studied experimentally. Since no welding operation on the pipe is required for installation of this anchor support, reduction of time and labor is expected for both a combination of planning and construction of an anchor on piping system.

Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities: Part 3 — Seismic Response of Crossover Piping for Seismic Isolation System

This paper, which is part of the series entitled “Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities”, shows the linear seismic response of crossover piping installed in a seismically isolated plant. The crossover piping, supported by both isolated and non-isolated buildings, deforms with large relative displacement between the two buildings and the seismic response of the crossover piping is caused by two different seismic excitations from the buildings. A flexible and robust structure is needed for the high-pressure crossover piping. In this study, shaking tests on a 1/10 scale piping model and FEM analyses were performed to investigate the seismic response of the crossover piping which was excited and deformed by two different seismic motions under isolated and non-isolated conditions. Specifically, as linear response analysis of the crossover piping, modal time-history analysis and response spectrum analysis with multiple excitations were carried out and the applicability of the analyses was confirmed. Moreover, the seismic response of actual crossover piping was estimated and the feasibility was evaluated.

Statistical Analysis of Seismic Effects of Low Seismic Class Equipment Based on Damage Data of Nuclear Power Plants

Structural strengths of the piping and components in NPPs have been designed with seismic margin. They are classified seismically S, B and C class in terms of the influence rate to nuclear safety. For the highest seismic class (Class S) equipment, it is clarified that they have enough seismic margins against design seismic conditions by shaking table tests or numerical simulations. However, for the lower seismic class (Class B and C) equipment, their seismic margins have not been clarified quantitatively. In this paper, in order to evaluate seismic robustness of the lower seismic class equipment with no clarification of seismic margin, seismic influences of the lower seismic class equipment in NPPs damaged by actual large earthquakes have been surveyed and sorted as a database, and the integrity of the lower class equipment have been discussed. Seismic effects on 24 plants damaged by the recent large 6-earthquakes are surveyed, sorted as a database, and investigated. As a result, a total of 29 cases of function deterioration or loss were observed. Considering the total number of components and piping, the frequency of those cases in class B and C components and piping was low. And also, as it is found there are a few cases of degradation or loss of function in the equipment installed on the bedrock or in the buildings.

A Study on Maximum Responses and Their Variances of Elasto-Plastic Structures Subjected to Synthesized Ground Motions

A number of artificial earthquake ground motions compatible with time-frequency characteristics of recorded actual earthquake ground motions as well as the given target response spectrum are generated using wavelet transform. The coefficient of variation (C.O.V..) of maximum displacement on elasto-plastic SDOF systems excited by these artificial ground motions are numerically evaluated.

Structural Health Monitoring of a Concrete Frame Subjected to Shake Table Excitations Using Smart Aggregates

Structural health monitoring of RC structures under seismic loads has recently attracted dramatic attention in the earthquake engineering research community. In this paper, a piezoceramic-based device called “smart aggregate” was used for the health monitoring of a two stories one bay RC frame structure under earthquake excitations. The RC moment frame instrumented with smart aggregates was tested using a shake table with different ground excitation intensities. The distributed piezoceramic-based smart aggregates embedded in the RC structure were used to monitor the health condition of the structure during the tests. The sensitiveness and effectiveness of the proposed piezoceramic-based approach were investigated and evaluated by analyzing the measured responses.

Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities: Part 4 — Failure Behavior of Crossover Piping for Seismic Isolation System

This paper provides a part of the series titled “Development of an Evaluation Method for Seismic Isolation Systems of Nuclear Power Facilities”. This part shows the failure behavior of crossover piping installed in a seismic isolated plant. The considered crossover piping is supported on one side by an isolated building and by a non-isolated building on the other side. During an earthquake, the piping structure is deformed due to the large relative displacements between the two buildings and at the same time excited by the different building seismic responses. Therefore, the high-pressure crossover piping structure requires both flexibility and strength. In this study, 1/10 scaled shaking tests and FEM analyses have been performed to investigate the failure behavior of the crossover piping, where both seismic motions and excitations have been taken into account. It was confirmed that the failure occurs at the piping elbow through low cycle fatigue. Moreover, the results of the elastic-plastic response analysis, which simulates an extreme level of excitation corresponding to more than three times the design level, are in good agreement with the test results. The simulation also succeeded in predicting the experimental failure location.