Comparison of Seismic Responses of Seismically Isolated NPP Containment Structures using Equivalent Linear- and Nonlinear-Lead-Rubber Bearing Modeling

In order to perform a soil-isolation-structure interaction analysis of seismically isolated nuclear power plant (NPP) structures, the nonlinear behavior of a seismic isolation system may be converted to an equivalent linear model used in frequency domain analysis. Seismic responses for seismically isolated NPP containment structures subjected to a simple artificial acceleration history and different site class earthquakes are evaluated for the equivalent-linear and nonlinear models that have been applied to lead-rubber bearing (LRB) modeling. It can be observed that the maximum displacements of the equivalent linear model are larger than that of the nonlinear model. From the floor response spectrum analysis for the top of NPP containment structures, it can be observed that the spectral acceleration of an equivalent linear model at about 0.5 Hz frequency is about 2~3 times larger than that of a nonlinear model.