9 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Thermally conductive cementitious grouts for geothermal heat pumps. Progress report FY 1998
Research commenced in FY 97 to determine the suitability of superplasticized cement-sand grouts for backfilling vertical boreholes used with geothermal heat pump (GHP) systems. The overall objectives were to develop, evaluate and demonstrate cementitious grouts that could reduce the required bore length and improve the performance of GHPs. This report summarizes the accomplishments in FY 98. The developed thermally conductive grout consists of cement, water, a particular grade of silica sand, superplasticizer and a small amount of bentonite. While the primary function of the grout is to facilitate heat transfer between the U-loop and surrounding formation, it is also essential that the grout act as an effective borehole sealant. Two types of permeability (hydraulic conductivity) tests was conducted to evaluate the sealing performance of the cement-sand grout. Additional properties of the proposed grout that were investigated include bleeding, shrinkage, bond strength, freeze-thaw durability, compressive, flexural and tensile strengths, elastic modulus, Poisson`s ratio and ultrasonic pulse velocity
Recommended from our members
Standard problems for structural computer codes
BNL is investigating the ranges of validity of the analytical methods used to predict the behavior of nuclear safety related structures under accidental and extreme environmental loadings. During FY 85, the investigations were concentrated on special problems that can significantly influence the outcome of the soil structure interaction evaluation process. Specially, limitations and applicability of the standard interaction methods when dealing with lift-off, layering and water table effects, were investigated. This paper describes the work and the results obtained during FY 85 from the studies on lift-off, layering and water-table effects in soil-structure interaction
Recommended from our members
A plane strain model of soil saturation effect on dynamic stiffness functions of embedded footings
Impedance functions associated with horizontal and vertical vibrations of rigid massless strip footings embedded in a saturated soil stratum are evaluated using a finite element approach The foundation medium is treated as a two-phase continuum which behaves according to Blot`s classical theory of wave propagation in fluid-saturated porous media. Parametric studies have been recently performed by the authors in an effort to verify that the adopted finite element approach and associated numerical procedures yield reasonable correlations with analytic solutions of soil-structure interaction problems. Horizontal and vertical impedance functions are presented for various embedment depth/soil layer thickness configurations. It is shown that saturation influences the foundation impedances especially their imaginary parts which can be reasonably explained as being the result of additional dissipation in the system associated with the motion of pore fluid relative to the soil skeleton. It is further shown that, as anticipated, soil stiffnesses increase with increasing embedment depth
Recommended from our members
Integrated system for seismic evaluations
This paper describes the various features of the Seismic Module of the CARES system (Computer Analysis for Rapid Evaluation of Structures). This system was developed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to perform rapid evaluations of structural behavior and capability of nuclear power plant facilities. The CARES is structured in a modular format. Each module performs a specific type of analysis i.e., static or dynamic, linear or nonlinear, etc. This paper describes the features of the Seismic Module in particular. The development of the Seismic Module of the CARES system is based on an approach which incorporates all major aspects of seismic analysis currently employed by the industry into an integrated system that allows for carrying out interactively computations of structural response to seismic motions. The code operates on a PC computer system and has multi-graphics capabilities. It has been designed with user friendly features and it allows for interactive manipulation of various analysis phases during the seismic design process. The capabilities of the seismic module include (a) generation of artificial time histories compatible with given design ground response spectra, (b) development of Power Spectral Density (PSD) functions associated with the seismic input, (c) deconvolution analysis using vertically propagating shear waves through a given soil profile, and (d) development of in-structure response spectra or corresponding PSD's. It should be pointed out that these types of analyses can also be performed individually by using available computer codes such as FLUSH, SAP, etc. The uniqueness of the CARES, however, lies on its ability to perform all required phases of the seismic analysis in an integrated manner. 5 refs., 6 figs
Recommended from our members
Dynamic analysis of systems having large damping variations
In the earthquake response analysis of structures in which the damping characteristics between the elements varies significantly the standard mode superposition method cannot be used. Several approximations have been proposed that allow the application of the modal superposition method for cases in which the damping matrix is not orthogonal with respect to the modal shapes. The most commonly used approximation is based on a composite damping value which is employed in the modal equations. This value is a weighted average of the damping values of the individual components of the structural model. In this paper an investigation of the errors introduced by the composite damping in the response of simple structures is presented. The results given in the paper can be used for benchmarking the approximations in more complex systems for which composite damping solutions are employed
Recommended from our members
Liquid storage tanks under vertical excitation
Until recently, the hydrodynamic effects on liquid storage tanks induced by an earthquake excitation were basically treated for the horizontal component of the earthquake. Recent studies, however, showed that the hydrodynamic effects due to the vertical component of an earthquake may be significant. In these studies the tank is assumed to be fixed at the bottom. This paper is concerned with the hydrodynamic behavior of liquid storage tanks induced by vertical earthquake input excitation. First, the fluid-tank system is treated as a fixed-base system and a simple formula is obtained for the coupled fluid-structure natural frequency. Second, additional interaction effects due to the foundation flexibility on the fluid-tank system are investigated. It is concluded that the foundation flexibility may have a significant effect on the hydrodynamic behavior of the liquid storage tanks under a vertical ground shaking
Recommended from our members
Convolution-deconvolution in DIGES
Convolution and deconvolution operations is by all means a very important aspect of SSI analysis since it influences the input to the seismic analysis. This paper documents some of the convolution/deconvolution procedures which have been implemented into the DIGES code. The 1-D propagation of shear and dilatational waves in typical layered configurations involving a stack of layers overlying a rock is treated by DIGES in a similar fashion to that of available codes, e.g. CARES, SHAKE. For certain configurations, however, there is no need to perform such analyses since the corresponding solutions can be obtained in analytic form. Typical cases involve deposits which can be modeled by a uniform halfspace or simple layered halfspaces. For such cases DIGES uses closed-form solutions. These solutions are given for one as well as two dimensional deconvolution. The type of waves considered include P, SV and SH waves. The non-vertical incidence is given special attention since deconvolution can be defined differently depending on the problem of interest. For all wave cases considered, corresponding transfer functions are presented in closed-form. Transient solutions are obtained in the frequency domain. Finally, a variety of forms are considered for representing the free field motion both in terms of deterministic as well as probabilistic representations. These include (a) acceleration time histories, (b) response spectra (c) Fourier spectra and (d) cross-spectral densities
Recommended from our members
Independent seismic evaluation of the Diablo Canyon Unit 1 containment annulus structure and selected piping systems
An independent review and development of the vertical floor spectra for the Unit 1 containment annulus structure of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant was carried out using a detailed three-dimensional model. The developed floor spectra were then utilized for confirmatory evaluations of two selected piping systems. The latter were evaluated by the envelope response spectrum method, and by the independent support motion response spectrum method. ASME class 2 evaluations of the two systems were also performed. Finally, a confirmatory evaluation was carried out for the model utilized by URS/Blume for the development of the vertical floor response spectra. Sections 1.1 and 1.2 of the report summarize the work scope and the results of the study. Details pertaining to the specific areas of the work are given in sections 2 to 8
Probability based load criteria for the design of nuclear structures: a critical review of the state-of-the-art
Structures for nuclear power plant facilities must be designed to withstand safely and effectively all kinds of loads and load combinations that may be expected to occur during their lifetime. The traditional methods of structural design attempt to account for the inevitable variability in the loads, material strengths, in-service environments, and fabrication process, etc., through the use of safety factor, allowable stresses or load and resistance factors. These approaches may result in an unknown and nonuniform reliability because of the subjective manner in which the safety factors have been determined. The stochastic nature loads and the uncertainties in material properties dictate a probabilistic approach for a rational assessment of structural safety and performance. This report presents: an in-depth review of the state-of-the-art pertaining to probability-based analysis and design of civil engineering structures; basis for extending existing probability-based methods to seismic category I nuclear structures; and the availability of the pertinent data required to perform probabilistic analysis for seismic category I nuclear structures