FULL SCALE DYNAMIC TESTS OF ATUCHA II N.P.P.

PRATO, CARLOS A.; KONNO, T.; UCHIYAMA, S.; ALVAREZ, LUIS M.; GODOY, ANTONIO R.; CEBALLOS, MARCELO A.

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1998 vol. 179 p. 225 - 243

0029-5493

This paper summarizes the main results of a series of dynamic tests of the reactor building of Atucha II NPP performed to determine the dynamic properties of its massive structure deeply embedded in quaternary soil deposits. Tests were performed under two different types of loading conditions: steady state harmonic loads imposed by mechanical exciters and impulsive loads induced by dropping a weight on the ground surface in the vicinity. Natural frequencies and mode shapes were identified and the associated modal damping ratios were experimentally determined. Numerical analyses of the reactor building-foundation system by two different F.E. models were performed. One of them, based on an axisymmetric representation of the soil-structure system, was used to simulate the steady state vibration tests and to calculate the dynamic stiffness of the foundation slab and soil layers for comparison with those experimentally obtained. The other, a 3-D F.E. model of the superstructure, was used to assess the natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained from the tests, representing dynamic stiffness of the foundation with stiffness coefficients derived both from the tests and from the axisymmetric F.E. model. Good agreement of the natural frequencies given by two types of tests were generally found, with the largest difference between them in the fundamental frequency of the building. Estimates of modal damping derived from the tests showed significant differences depending on the technique used to calculate them. For the fundamental mode, damping was found to be 23-42%, gradually decreasing with frequency to 2-4% for approximately 10 Hz.