Seismic mitigation performance and optimization design of NPP water tank with internal ring baffles under earthquake loads

• Published in: Nuclear engineering and design Vol. 318; pp. 182 - 201
• Main Authors: Zhao, Chunfeng, Chen, Jianyun, Wang, Jingfeng, Yu, Na, Xu, Qiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.07.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Baffles; Buildings; Containment; Containment vessels; Design optimization; Dissipation; Earthquake construction; Earthquake loads; Earthquakes; Electric power plants; Finite element method; Fluid-structure interaction; Mitigation; Nuclear accidents & safety; Nuclear electric power generation; Nuclear energy; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear power plant; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear safety; Optimal design; Ring baffle; Seismic activity; Seismic design; Seismic engineering; Seismic performance; Seismic response; Steel; Vibration; Ring baffle; Nuclear power plant; Fluid-structure interaction; Seismic performance; Optimal design
• ISSN: 0029-5493; 1872-759X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.04.023

•FSI of water tank under earthquake are simulated by FEM.•The influences of internal ring baffle on seismic response reduction are investigated.•ALE algorithm is applied to study the fluid-structure interaction effects.•The effects of different ring baffle types in reducing seismic response are compared.•The optimal type of ring baffle under seismic loads is obtained. The shield building of AP1000 is designed to protect the steel containment vessel of nuclear power plant. Therefore, the safety and integrity must be ensured during the plant life in any conditions such as earthquake. The purpose of this paper is to study the fluid-structure interaction of water in water tank and effects of internal ring baffle on the response of AP1000 shield building under strong ground motions. For this purpose, a fluid-structure interaction algorithm of finite element technique is employed to investigate the seismic response of water tank with internal baffles of different shapes and arrangements under artificial, El-Centro and Kobe earthquakes with peak acceleration of 0.3g. Four optimal designed schemes of different ring baffle types are considered and the influences of various parameters such as vertical baffle height, arrangement locations, baffle height ratio and length of baffle on the dynamical response of shield building are discussed. The numerical results clearly show that the water tank with vertical ring baffle near the bottom of tank can limit the vibration of shield building and can more efficiently dissipate the kinematic energy of the shield building under different earthquake.