Theoretical analysis on vibration characteristic of a flexible tube under the interaction of seismic load and hydrodynamic force

Abstract

Abstract The reliability of the spent fuel pool instrument is very important for the security of nuclear power plant, especially during the earthquake. The effect of the fluid force on the vibration characteristics of the flexible tube of the spent fuel pool instrument needs comprehensive analysis. In this paper, based on the potential flow theory, the hydrodynamic pressures acting on the flexible tube were obtained. A mathematical model of a flexible tube was constructed to obtain the dynamic response considering the effects of seismic load and fluid force, and a computer code was written. Based on the mathematical model and computer code, the maximum stresses of the flexible tube in both safe shutdown earthquake and operating basis earthquake events on the spent fuel pool with three typical water levels were calculated, respectively. The results show that the fluid force has an obvious effect on the stress and strain of the flexible tube in both safe shutdown earthquake and operating basis earthquake events.