Seismic motions are likely to cause large displacements in nuclear power plants because the main mode of their piping systems is dominated by the low-frequency region. Additionally, large relative displacement may occur in the piping systems because their supports are installed in several places, and each support is subjected to different seismic motions. Therefore, to assess the seismic performance of a piping system, the relative displacement repeated by seismic motions must be considered. In this study, in-plane cyclic loading tests were conducted under various constant amplitudes using test specimens composed of SCH 40 3-inch pipes and a tee in the piping system of a nuclear power plant. Additionally, an attempt was made to quantitatively express the failure criteria using a damage index based on the dissipated energy that used the force–displacement and moment–deformation angle relationships. The failure mode was defined as the leakage caused by a through-wall crack, and the failure criteria were compared and analyzed using the damage index of Park and Ang and that of Banon. Additionally, the method of defining the yield point required to calculate the damage index was examined. It was confirmed that the failure criteria of the SCH 40 3-inch carbon steel pipe tee can be effectively expressed using the damage index.
Maintenance of bridges in use is essential and measuring the live load distribution factor (LLDF) of a bridge to examine bridge integrity and safety is important. A vehicle loading test has been used to measure the LLDF of a bridge. To carry this out on a bridge in use, traffic control is required because loading must be performed at designated positions using vehicles whose details are known. This makes it difficult to measure LLDF. This study proposed a method of estimating the LLDF of a bridge using the vertical displacement response caused by traveling vehicles under ambient vibration conditions in the absence of vehicle control. Since the displacement response measured from a bridge included both static and dynamic components, the static component required for the estimation of LLDF was extracted using empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The vehicle loading and ambient vibration tests were conducted to verify the validity of the proposed method. It was confirmed that the proposed method can effectively estimate the LLDF of a bridge if the vehicle type and driving lane on the bridge are identified in the ambient vibration test.
An isolation system installed in a nuclear power plant (NPP) could increase seismic safety during seismic events. On the other hand, a more significant relative displacement may occur due to the isolation system. The seismic risk could be increased in the case of an interface piping system that connects isolated and nonisolated structures. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the piping systems when evaluating the safety of isolated-NPPs. This study performed seismic fragility analysis with isolated APR1400 nuclear power plants with the main steam piping. The main steam piping is the interface pipe connecting the isolated auxiliary building and the turbine building. The failure mode for seismic fragility analysis was defined as cracks caused by leakage. The experimental and numerical analysis results quantified the leak-through crack point as a damage index. The seismic fragility curves are suggested based on peak ground acceleration and the relative displacement between the isolated and nonisolated buildings.
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