Seismic response analysis of a piping system subjected to multiple support excitations in a base isolated NPP building

Abstract In this study, the stress response of the piping system in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR 1400) with a base isolation design subjected to seismic loading is addressed. The piping system located between the auxiliary building with base isolation and the turbine building with a fixed base is considered since it can be subjected to substantial relative support movement during seismic events. First, the support responses with respect to the base characteristic are investigated to perform seismic analysis for multiple support excitations. Finite element analyses are performed to predict the piping stress response through various analysis methods such as the response spectrum, seismic support movement and time history method. To separately evaluate the inertial effect and support movement effect on the piping stress, the stress is decomposed into a primary and secondary stress using the proposed method. Finally, influences of the base isolation design on the piping system in the APR 1400 are addressed. The primary stress based on the inertial loading is effectively reduced in a base isolation design, whereas a considerable amount of secondary stress is generated in the piping system connecting a base isolated building with a fixed base building. It is also confirmed that both the response spectrum analysis and seismic support movement analysis provide more conservative estimations of the piping stress compared to the time history analysis.