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U.S. Department of Energy
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Determining a lateral load specification for downcomers during chugging in a Mark II containment. [BWR]

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6060941
During a postulated LOCA in a BWR containment, steam is vented to the suppression pool and condensation-driven pressure oscillations may occur. In a Mark II type of containment with vertical downcomers these pressure oscillations may give rise to lateral loads near the downcomer exit which are impulsive in nature and random in direction. Domestic BWR vendors found that a dynamic load having a half sinusoidal shape with maximum amplitude F and duration tau, when applied to an analytic model of a Mark II downcomer, reproduced well the structural response observed in domestic and foreign lateral load tests. Because of the relative time scales involved, this could be thought of as an impulse specification with an impulse of amplitude F. Originally, the highest load observed in a domestic test conducted for the Mark II Owners had been suggested as an appropriate specification. At the request of NRC, Brookhaven National Laboratory and its consultants evaluated the results of several foreign and domestic lateral load tests in order to recommend an appropriate load amplitude.
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA); Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
6060941
Report Number(s):
BNL-NUREG-32586; CONF-830805-4; ON: DE83008580
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English