The nuclear power plants are designed to resist the forces generated

due to a natural phenomenon like

earthquake. S.A. Bhardwaj divulges
in a very simplified way the broad
steps involved in generation of the
seismic ground motion and the complex analytical and exprerimental
techniques used in seismic qualification of the structures, systems and
equipment.

he Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)

consists of various Structures,
Systems and Equipment (SS&E)
which are designed to resist Earthquake forces. Earthquake is a natural
phenomenon, which is generated in
earths crust. The earths crust is made
up of mosaic of several tectonic
plates. These tectonic plates are constantly moving slowly in different directions resulting in gradual accumulation of strains over a large rock mass
at the plate boundaries. When the accumulated strain exceeds the strength
of the rocks, these rocks rupture resulting in sudden release of stored
strain energy which is transmitted in
the form of seismic waves, generating
ground vibrations travelling far and
wide and get attenuated as they travel.
Such ground vibrations or base mo-

tion of the plant building (Figure-1)

gets transmitted through the intermediate structures of the building to the
SS&E which are mounted on the floors
or walls of the building. The earthquake
motion mainly induces inertial forces
in the SS&E of the plant. The NPP structure, system and equipment are designed to resist these earthquake
forces along with other loads, viz.,
gravity, pressure, thermal loads etc.
EARTHQUAKE CHARACTERIZATION AS A DYNAMIC PHENOMENON
Time History of an Earthquake
An earthquake causes an alternating
ground motion, which varies with time
and is harmful mainly because of the
acceleration and thereby, the inertial
forces it induces in the SS&E. Seismic
input motion is generally recorded and
represented by an accelerogram also
called as Time History. A close look
at the acceleration time history shows
that earthquake motion is cyclic random motion, containing a mix of frequencies. The maximum acceleration
of the ground motion is the peak acceleration of the time history plot.
Response Spectrum of an Earthquake
The time history plot does not directly

Figure 1 : Earthquake motion as experienced by a nuclear power plant.

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Broad Steps in
Earthquake
Resistant
Design of a
Nuclear Power
Plant
provide perceptible information to the
design engineer. The harmfulness of
acceleration and the forces induced
in the SS&E to a given seismic excitation are predominantly due to the classical resonance phenomenon, or dynamic amplification. We know that if
the excitation frequency is close to the
natural frequency of the SS&E, the response of the structure is dynamically
amplified and is a function of damping of the SS&E. The frequency content of the time history and the effect
of damping, essential for the understanding of dynamic amplification of
the SS&E during an earthquake are
expressed usually by a concept of
Response Spectrum.

years. Such an earthquake is classified as Safe Shutdown Earthquake

(SSE) and the safety systems are designed to maintain their structural integrity, pressure boundary integrity
and functional operability during such
an event.
The systems required for normal power
production are usually designed to
remain operational for an earthquake
classified as Operating Basis Earthquake (OBE) having an intensity which
is lower than SSE but can be expected
at the site once in 100 years.
DETERMINATION OF EARTHQUAKE
GROUND MOTION
Design Ground Response Spectrum

Figure 2 : Concept of response spectrum.

To appreciate a response spectrum,
imagine a number of spring mass oscillators of different natural frequencies
embedded in the ground having same
damping. If the maximum response
(acceleration/ velocity/ displacement)
of the masses could be recorded (Figure-2) during an earthquake and plotted against the natural frequencies of
oscillators, a response spectrum to the
specific time history of the earthquake
for the damping of oscillators can be
obtained. In practice, the response
spectrum is derived from the given
Time History by calculations using
standard analytical techniques.

are required for maintaining safety and

avoiding release of radioactivity to the
environment during an accident condition. The safety systems are required
to be operational under all conditions
including during an earthquake. The
safety systems are therefore designed
to withstand a maximum credible seismic event, which is having high intensity even though it has low probability
of occurrence, i.e., once in 10,000

To account for the characteristics of

the earthquake ground motion associated with different source mechanisms, the ground response spectrum
for a NPP site is derived from an ensemble of accelerograms recorded on
sites with similar geological and
seismotectonic conditions and covering a broad range of source and transmission path characteristics.
Generally,
minimum
of
25
accelerograms are taken to derive the
response spectrum. The response
spectrum of each of these time histories are statistically combined together

The characteristic of an earthquake is

such that it is relatively rich in energy
content in the frequency range of 1 to
15 Hz. Above 15 Hz, the energy content reduces considerably and is very
less beyond 33 Hz. The peak acceleration of the time history plot corresponds to the acceleration value of the
response spectrum plot at 33 Hz and
is called as Zero Period Acceleration
(ZPA).
SEISMIC CATEGORIZATION OF
SS&E FOR TWO TYPES OF DESIGN
EARTHQUAKES
Structures, systems and equipment of
a NPP are categorized as those systems that are required for normal power
production and the safety systems that

Figure 3 : A typical Design Ground Response Spectra for Safe Shut Down
Earthquake for various dampings

An International Journal of Nuclear Power - Vol. 15 No. 1 to 4 (2001)

31

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY CIVIL STRUCTURES

Figure 4 : ZPA for SSE & OBE level of earthquakes at Indian NPPs
and smoothened over the local peaks
and valleys to obtain an enveloping
SSE level Design Ground Response
Spectrum (DGRS). DGRS both for
horizontal and vertical direction are
generated by following the
proceducre brought out above. However, generally the vertical DGRS is
taken as 2/3rd of the horizontal. Typical horizontal design ground response
spectra for SSE, for various damping
values are shown in Figure-3.

tories compatible with DGRS are generated. The determination of synthetic

time histories matching the DGRS is
through an involved iterative trial and
error process. The plots of the synthetic Time History generated average
Response Spectrum (THRS) and the
DGRS are shown in figure-5.

The civil structures are analysed by performing a response spectrum analysis

and designed as per national and International codes. These analyses are
performed using a finite element technique. A finite element model used for
the analysis of Reactor Building having lumped masses representing floor
and equipment masses, structural
beam elements and soil spring elements is shown in Figure-1. The Time
History analysis of the model is carried out by applying synthetic time histories to the base raft of the building.
The output of such an analysis is the
response time histories at various floors
of reactor building in the three orthogonal directions for OBE & SSE.
These floor time histories are then used
to generate the floor response spectra. The floor response spectral peaks
are broadened by 15% on either side
to account for the various uncertainties involved in modeling of the structure, material properties and soil parameters. The typical broadened and
raw floor response spectra along with
the ground response spectrum for 2%
damping are shown in Figure-6. It can

The OBE level of ground motion is similarly based on past earthquakes which
have occurred within an area of 300
km radius of the NPP. However, quite
often, OBE is taken as half of the SSE.
The ZPA values for SSE and OBE level
of earthquakes at NPP sites in India
are given in Figure-4.
Spectrum Compatible Time History
The design of SS&E mounted on various floors of the plant buildings (primary structures) is based on the response spectra or acceleration time
histories of the respective floors. The
vibrations/accelerations experienced
on higher floors usually get amplified
over DGRS. These floor response
spectra or time histories are generated
by performing a time history analysis
of the primary civil structure. For conducting a time history analysis of the
primary structure, synthetic time his-

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Figure 5 : Comparison of Mean THRS with DGRS for Safe Shut Down Earthquake
(5% Damping)

Figure 6 : Raw & broadened floor response spectra and ground response
spectrum for SSE for 2% damping.
be seen that the broad band ground
response spectrum has changed to
narrow band floor response spectrum
and the corresponding accelerations
have also been amplified.

requirements and as such the design

of the SS&E with adequate strength
to withstand high inertial forces experienced in an earthquake becomes
necessary.

SEISMIC QUALIFICATION OF
STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS AND
EQUIPMENT

DESIGN & ANALYSIS USING RESPONSE SPECTRUM

Design Considerations

Let us see the seismic force calcula-

tion for a simple structure like a steel

tank with a skirt support mounted on
the floor of the reactor building (Figure-7). This tank with a skirt support
can be idealized as a single degree of
freedom oscillator with stiffness of the
tank & skirt support and mass of the
tank. The damping of such an equipment is say 2%. The natural frequency
of the oscillator can be calculated and
is say about 15 Hz. Now, by using
horizontal floor response spectrum of
the floor for a 2% damping, the acceleration experienced by tank mass at
this frequency is 1.5g. The tank will
thus experience a horizontal force proportional to this acceleration. Similarly, seismic forces in other orthogonal horizontal and vertical direction can
be calculated. The tank, its skirt support and its anchor bolts are then designed for these calculated seismic
forces in combination with dead
weight, pressure and thermal loads.
While the above description brings out
the primary steps and considerations
accounting for forces induced during
seismic event, the actual analysis for
real life systems is more involved because the structures or equipment can
not be usually represented by a single
oscillator. For example, a multi-degree
of freedom system like a piping system can be conceived as a continua-

The major characteristics of response

spectrum are such that the following
general options are available to the
design engineer to minimize inertial
forces (product of mass and acceleration) as induced in the SS&E:

Design the equipment along with

its support structure to be as rigid
as possible so as to have its natural frequency sufficiently high, say
20 Hz or more to avoid the zone
of high accelerations as observed
in the response spectrum. To
achieve this, the equipment support can be strengthened either
by using stronger section or by
providing bracings etc.

Locate the equipment at a lower

floor.

However, above options are not always feasible due to other imposing

Figure 7 : Schematic Diagram and an analytical model of a Tank.

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33

Motor casing

Motor bearing

Flange

Axis
Column

Water lubricated bearing

Impeller

Figure 8 : Schematic diagram and an analytical model of a pump.

tion of many interconnected single degree of freedom oscillators having different frequencies. By a mathematical technique called modal analysis,
these single degree of freedom oscillators present in such a complex system can be identified. Further the extent to which each of these individual
oscillators participate in the overall response of the system, called mass participation factor, is also obtained
through modal analysis. The inertial
forces for each of the oscillators are
calculated using response spectrum
analysis and then appropriately combined together to determine overall
seismic forces experienced at any location of the system. To get the seismic response of the systems, which
are supported at different floors in a
building, an envelope response spectrum is used or multi-support response
spectrum analysis is carried out. The
forces generated in the system due to
the relative displacements of the floors
during a seismic event called as Seismic Anchor Movements (SAM) are also

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calculated. The seismic forces are then

combined together with the forces due
to various other loads viz., dead
weight, pressure and temperature etc.
The resultant overall stresses and the
displacements in the system are verified for criteria of stability, strength, deformation and fatigue to determine
structural integrity, pressure boundary
integrity and functional operability as
specified in the code used for the design of the system. If the criteria are
not met, then redesign of the SS&E is
done and analysis carried out again
till the requirements are met. The
above process sounds complex, however, well established computer codes
are available and used extensively to
analyze variety of structures, systems
and equipment of a nuclear power
plant.
The above description covers an example of the seismic design and analysis of a passive equipment and is applicable to pressure vessels, storage
tanks, piping, pump and valve casings,
heat exchangers, fueling machine pres-

sure
components,
equipment supports etc.
where the qualification
requirements are structural integrity and pressure boundary integrity.
Similar analysis is extended to active equipment like reciprocating
and rotating equipment
viz. diesel generators,
compressors, pumps
and motors etc. Here in
addition to structural integrity, functional operability of the rotating
and reciprocating components is also required
to be demonstrated.
Various components of
these equipment viz.,
casing, shaft, impeller
for pump; casing, cylinder, piston, connecting
rod and crank shaft for
compressors and diesel
generators are represented by 2D or 3D finite elements. The bearings between shaft and
casing and contacts between piston and cylinders are represented by springs. The
dynamic analysis is conducted to determine the displacement at the bearing, contact surfaces and contact
points to ascertain that clearances
continue to remain available at the
bearing surfaces and bearing loads are
within allowable capacity. A typical
analytical model for analysis of vertical pump representing its casing, shaft
and impeller is shown in Figure- 8.
SEISMIC QUALIFICATION BY
SHAKE TABLE TEST
Many equipment are quite complex for
application of analytical approach, for
example, primary shutdown mechanism is having trains of rotating gears,
dash-pot with moving vane and clutch
mechanism etc. with close gaps and
clearances. The reactivity mechanism
has rotating and moving components
viz., motor, gear, ball screw, ball nut
and control rods. The electrical and
instrumentation panels contain variety
of delicate active devices viz., relays,
contactors, switches, meters etc. The

for seismic qualification of piping systems and various panels extensively used in
a NPP, as the life line
of safety systems is
essential.
Piping Systems

Figure 9 : Shake Table Test of reactivity mechanism

assembly.

Piping systems are

traditionally designed
for dead weight and
thermal loads. Cold
piping systems are
provided with dead
weight supports in
vertical direction. Hot
water or steam piping
are provided with
spring hangers or
sliding supports to
allow the expansion
and contraction of the
piping during heat up
and cooldown, so as
to keep the thermal
stresses to a minimum. For sustaining
earthquake loads,
these piping systems
are provided with additional supports to
resist vertical upward

and horizontal seismic forces. For piping, the seismic supports are usually
provided at a regular piping span such
that the fundamental frequency of the
span is in the descending part of the
response spectrum. However, for the
hot piping such rigid seismic supports
can result in higher thermal stresses.
Hence, these piping are provided with
special supports called snubbers.
There are mechanical and hydraulic
snubbers whose design feature is such
that they allow thermal movement that
occurs with very low velocity which occurs during heat up & cooldown and
get locked at high velocities which occur during a seismic event and act as
a rigid support to the piping system.
Mechanical, Electrical and Control
& Instrumentation System Panels
Instrument stands, racks, cabinets and
panels of electrical and control & instrumentation system are designed to
be rigid so that their natural frequency
is above 20 Hz. This ensures that floor
motions are not amplified to a large
extent at the mounting locations of the
devices in the panels. The heavy rotating, reciprocating equipment or any
other delicate devices are mounted as
far as possible at lower elevation of
the panel to reduce the amplified re-

qualification of such complex mechanical, electrical and instrumentation devices may not be possible by analysis
alone to demonstrate their functional
operability during an earthquake.
Functional operability of these active
devices is demonstrated by shake
table testing by mounting them on a
shake-table. Motion identical to acceleration time history at the base of
equipment is given to the shake-table
and functional performance is monitored during the table motion. If it fails
to perform the intended function, the
equipment is reviewed and strengthened accordingly. A typical test set
up for the shake table test conducted
on reactivity mechanism is shown in
Figure-9.
SEISMIC QUALIFICATION APPROACH FOR VARIOUS SS&E
Apart from general process of seismic
qualification of SS&E as discussed
above, brief mention of the process

Figure 10 : Shake table test of 415 Volt Switchgear relay panel.

An International Journal of Nuclear Power - Vol. 15 No. 1 to 4 (2001)

35

sponse in the panel. The panel is required to function during and/or after
an earthquake depending on the safety
function it has to perform. The panels
contain delicate devices such as relays, contactors etc. These devices
work on the principle of making or
breaking of contacts. The movement
of the moving component in the device, during a seismic event, can lead
to spurious, unwanted making or
breaking of contact. To demonstrate
the satisfactory performance of the
panel during an earthquake, shake
table testing of panel is carried out,
simulating the seismic motion. In the
shake-table testing, the panel is
mounted on a shake-table and functional performances of devices are
checked during and after the testing
of the panel. In addition to the panels
of electrical and control & instrumentation, the active equipment of safety
systems are provided with class-I
power supply from batteries. The batteries have a series of lead plates
dipped in the liquid acid in a container.
These lead plates are connected to the
battery terminals. The structural
behaviour of the series of the lead
plates connected to the battery terminals through a common connector under the sloshing forces generated by
the liquid acid are difficult to calculate
by analysis and its qualification is dem-

onstrated by testing. The

test setups for shake table
test performed on
switchgear relay panel, circuit breaker and set of
batteries with their support stand are shown in
Figures-10, 11 and 12 respectively.
DESIGN EXPERIENCE
Various international
codes like ASME, IEEE,
ASCE, ANSI etc. are used
in the seismic design of
NPP. The eight 220 MWe
plants and two 540 MWe
plants designed since
1975
have
been
seismically qualified for
the earthquake loads expected in the region. Over
the years, expertise have
been developed at
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited,
Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre, prominent educational institutes research
laboratories and engiFigure 11 : Shake Table Test of circuit breaker.
neering consultants in the
country in the area of seismic design, analysis and shake table
Mr. S.A. Bhardwaj
testing.
did his graduation
in Mechancial
Engineering from
Delhi College of
Engineering &
Masters from IIT,
Delhi. He belongs
to 14th Batch of BARC training school.
He joined the erstwhile Power Projects
Engineering Division (PPED), now
NPCIL of the Department of Atomic
Energy in August 1971.

Figure 12 : Shake Table test of lead batteries with their support stand

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In NPCIL, he has been working in the

area of fuel designs, reactor core
design, design of Secondary Shut Down
System and reactor component,
seismology, stress analysis, reactor
safety analysis and operation plant
design support of Pressurised Heavy
Water Reactor. Currently, he is Officiating Director (Engg.) and his
responsiblities cover various aspects of
PHWR design and Engineering.