• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.351-358
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• 2013

In the electric power supplying industry, outdoor sealing end (pothead) is used and sometimes it is necessary to check the seismic qualification analysis or test which is intended to demonstrate that the equipment have adequate integrity to withstand stress of the specified seismic event and still performs their function. And since the pothead is mounted on the supporting jig, the avoidance of resonance between the pothead and jig is required. In order to design jig, three types of optimization are performed to get the minimum weight while satisfying the natural frequency constraint using ANSYS. Optimal array, position and thickness of truss members of the jig are obtained through topology, shape and sizing optimization process, respectively. And seismic analysis of the pothead on the jig for given RRS acceleration computes the displacement and stress of the pothead which shows the safety of the pothead. The obtained natural frequency, mass, and member thickness of the jig are compared with those of the reference jig which was used for seismic experimental test. The numerical results of the jig in the research is more optimized than the jig used in the experimental test.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.755-762
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• 2004

In our country, when the replacement for individual components of equipment in nuclear power plants is required, establishment of individual criteria i.e. Required Response Spectra(RRS) of seismic test/analysis for the component is very difficult because of the absence of Test Response Spectra(TRS) for the individual component to be replaced, from the existing qualification documents. In this case, it is required to perform the structural analysis for the nuclear equipment including the components to be replaced. After the structural analysis, Analysis Response Spectra(ARS) at the point of the component shall be generated and used for seismic test of the component. However, as of today, no standard program authorized for the response spectra generation by using the structural analysis exists in korea. Because of above reason, the STAR-Egs computer program was developed by using the method which calculates directly the expected response spectrum(frequency vs. acceleration type) of the selected points in the nuclear equipment with input spectrum(Required Response Spectra, RRS), based on the dynamic characteristics of the Finite Element(FE) model that is equivalent to the nuclear equipment. The STAR-Egs controls ANSYS/I-DEAS commercial software and automatically extract modal parameters of the FE model. The STAR-Egs calculates response spectrum using the established algorithm based on the extracted modal parameters, too. Reliance on the calculation result of the STAR-Egs was verified through comparison output with the result of MATLAB commercial software based on the identical algorithm. Moreover, actual seismic testing was performed as per IEEE344-1987 for the purpose of program verification by comparison of the FE analysis results.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.308-314
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• 1999

This paper presents the results of structural identification of a safety-related valve for nuclear power plant by impact hammer test as well as shaking table tests by using broadband random wave and sine sweep excitation. The test specimen is a Y-type motor operated globe valve. The test was performed as a "support test" to validate the analytically obtained modal parameters of the valve during its seismic qualification process by analytical method. From the study results it has been found that the shaking table test generally yields higher natural frequencies and lower damping values compared with those of impact hammer test. And it has been recognized that impact hammer test for modal identification of complex structures should be applied very carefully to get reasonable results.e results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.573-582
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• 2011

The in-cabinet response spectrum is used to define the input motion in the seismic qualification of instruments and devices mounted inside an electrical cabinet. This paper presents a procedure for generating the in-cabinet response spectrum for electrical equipment based on in-situ testing by an impact hammer. The proposed procedure includes an algorithm to build the relationship between the impact forces and the measured acceleration responses of cabinet structures by estimating the state-space model. This model is used to predict seismic responses to the equivalent earthquake forces. Three types of structural model are analyzed for numerical verification of the proposed method. A comparison of predicted and simulated response spectra shows good convergence, demonstrating the potential of the proposed method to predict the response spectra for real cabinet structures using vibration tests. The presented procedure eliminates the uncertainty associated with constructing an analytical model of the electrical cabinet, which has complex mass distribution and stiffness.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2387-2395
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• 2021

Seismic qualifications of electrical equipment, such as cabinet systems, have been emerging as the key area of nuclear power plants in Korea since the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, including the high-frequency domain. In addition, electrical equipment was sensitive to the high-frequency ground motions during the past earthquake. Therefore, this paper presents the rocking behavior of the electrical cabinet system subjected to Reg. 1.60 and UHS. The high fidelity finite element (FE) model of the cabinet related to the shaking table test data was developed. In particular, the first two global modes of the cabinet from the experimental test were 16 Hz and 24 Hz, respectively. In addition, 30.05 Hz and 37.5 Hz were determined to be the first two local modes in the cabinet. The high fidelity FE model of the cabinet using the ABAQUS platform was extremely reconciled with shaking table tests. As a result, the dynamic properties of the cabinet were sensitive to electrical instruments, such as relays and switchboards, during the shaking table test. In addition, the amplification with respect to the vibration transfer function of the cabinet was observed on the third floor in the cabinet due to localized impact corresponding to the rocking phenomenon of the cabinet under Reg.1.60 and UHS. Overall, the rocking of the cabinet system can be caused by the low-frequency oscillations and higher peak horizontal acceleration.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1-7
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• 2013

In nuclear power plants, lined carbon steel pipes or PCCPs (pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes) have been widely used for sea water transport systems. However, de-bonding of linings and oxidation of PCCP could make problems in aged NPPs (nuclear power plants). Recently at several NPPs in the United States, the PCCPs or lined carbon steel pipes of the sea water or raw water system have been replaced with HDPE (high density polyethylene) pipes, which have outstanding resistance to oxidation and seismic loading. ASME B&PV Code committee developed Code Case N-755, which describes rules for the construction of buried Safety Class 3 polyethylene pressure piping systems. Although US NRC permitted HDPE materials for Class 3 buried piping, their permission was limited to only 10-year operation because of several concerns including the quality of fusion zone of HDPE. In this study, various requirements for fusion qualification test of HDPE and some regulatory issues raised during HDPE application review in foreign NPPs are introduced.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.279-288
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• 2019

Safety-related cabinets and their electrical parts, such as relays and switches in nuclear power plants, should maintain continuous functioning, as well as structural safety according to the nuclear regulatory guidelines. Generally, an electrical part is qualified if its functioning is maintained without abnormality during excitement by motion compatible with the test response spectrum, which is larger than its in-cabinet response spectrum (ICRS). ICRS can be determined by shake-table test or dynamic analysis. Since existing cabinets in use can hardly be stopped and moved, dynamic analysis is preferred over shake-table test in determining ICRS. The simple method, suggested by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to determine ICRS, yields conservative or non-conservative results from time to time. In order to determine that the ICRS is better than EPRI method in a simple way, Ritz method considering global and local plate behaviors was suggested by Gupta et al. In this paper, the Ritz method is modified in order to consider the rocking and frame behaviors simultaneously, and it is applied to a simple numerical example for verification. ICRS is determined by Ritz method and compared with the results by finite element method (FEM). Based on this numerical example, recommendations for using Ritz method are suggested.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2010

Seismic qualification (SQ) is required prior to the installation of safety related electrical cabinets in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Modal identification of the electrical equipment is one of the most significant steps to perform SQ, and is an essential process to construct a realistic analytical model. In this study, shaking table tests were conducted to identify a variation of the dynamic characteristics of a seismic monitoring system cabinet installed in NPPs according to the excitation level. Modal identification of the cabinet has been performed by a frequency domain decomposition method. The results of this study show that the dynamic properties of the cabinet are nonlinearly varied according to the excitation level and the specimen behaves significantly in a nonlinear manner under safe shutdown earthquake motion in Korea. The main sources of the nonlinear behavior of the specimen have been judged by friction forces and geometrical nonlinearity rather than material nonlinearity. The nonlinear variation of the dynamic characteristics of the electrical cabinet might be accepted as an important fact that should be considered during the SQ of safety related equipment.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.186-192
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• 1999

Safety-related equipments of nuclear power plant must be seismically qualified to demonstrate their ability to function as required during and/or after the earthquake, The seismic qualification is usually achieved through analysis and testing. Analysis method is preferably adopted for structurally simple equipments which are easy to be mathematically modeled. However even for relatively complex equipments analysis method is occasionally used for computing the input motion or supporting information for the component test followed. Electrical cabinet is a typical example for which analysis method is combinedly used with test to get modal properties of the enclosing cabinet structure. Usually the structural elements and doors of the cabinet are loosely interconnected with small-size bolts or spot welding. Therefore cabinet-type equipment usually has high and complex nonlinear properties which are not easily idealized by simple practical modeling techniques. in this paper with respect to a typical cabinet-type structure(instrumentation cabinet of nuclear power plant) a comparative study has been performed between three different state-of-the -art modeling techniques: lumped mass model frame model and FEM modal. Form the study results it has been found that modal properties of the cabinet-type structure in the elastic behavior range can be reasonably computed through any type of modeling techniques in the practice with slight modification of model properties to get better accuracy. However it needs additional modeling techniques to get reasonable results up to nonlinear range.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.137-154
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• 2014

Servohydraulic shaking tables are being increasingly used in the field of earthquake engineering. They play a critical role in the advancement of the research state and remain one of the valuable tools for seismic testing. Recently, the National Earthquake Engineering Research Center, CGS, has acquired a 6.1m x 6.1 m shaking table system which has a six degree-of-freedom testing capability. The maximum specimen mass that can be tested on the shaking table is 60 t. This facility is designed specially for testing a complete civil engineering structures, substructures and structural elements up to collapse or ultimate limit states. It can also be used for qualification testing of industrial equipments. The current paper presents the main findings of the experimental shake-down characterization testing of the CGS shaking table. The test program carried out in this study included random white noise and harmonic tests. These tests were performed along each of the six degrees of freedom, three translations and three rotations. This investigation provides fundamental parameters that are required and essential while elaborating a realistic model of the CGS shaking table. Also presented in this paper, is the numerical model of the shaking table that was established and validated.