Abstract
Spent fuel rack is the key equipment for the storage of spent fuel after refueling. In order to investigate the performance of the spent fuel rack under the earthquake, the phenomena including sliding, collision, and overturning of the spent fuel rack were studied. An FEM model of spent fuel rack is built to simulate the transient response under seismic loading regarding fluid-structure interaction by ANSYS. Based on D’Alambert’s principle, the equilibriums of force and momentum were established to obtain the critical sliding and overturning accelerations. Then 5 characteristic transient loadings which were designed based on the critical sliding and overturning accelerations were applied to the rack FEM model. Finally, the transient displacement and impact force response of rack with different gap sizes and the supporting leg friction coefficients were analyzed. The result proves the FEM model is applicable for seismic response of spent fuel rack. This paper can guide the design of the future’s fluid-structure interaction experiment for spent fuel rack.
Highlights
Free standing spent fuel storage racks are submerged in water contained in a pool
The motional behavior of single racks is simulated by excitation with time histories under consideration of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI), which will be described
The analytical method for second phase is just a basic quasistatic analysis; the detailed design data of steel channels, welds, baseplate, and support structure are hard to obtain; this paper only focuses on the nonlinear analysis for the rack and the structural analysis was not included
Summary
During a postulated strong motion earthquake, the water surrounding the racks and fuel assemblies is accelerated and the so-called fluid-structure hydrodynamic interaction is significantly induced between the water and the fuel assemblies, the racks and the pool walls [1]. Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems have attracted a great deal of attention because of their wide range of applicability [2, 3]. According to the report [5] by NRC, for the evaluation of fluid effect for spent fuel rack, as a basic assumption, the inertial effect of water on the vibrating structures is considered while fluid damping and sloshing effects are generally ignored. The motional behavior of single racks is simulated by excitation with time histories under consideration of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI), which will be described . The analytical method for second phase is just a basic quasistatic analysis; the detailed design data of steel channels, welds, baseplate, and support structure are hard to obtain; this paper only focuses on the nonlinear analysis for the rack and the structural analysis was not included
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