Earthquake response analysis of reactor structures

Abstract The general nature of the principles upon which earthquake resistant design is based is described with particular reference to components and elements of nuclear reactor facilities. Special attention is paid to the response and design criteria of items of equipment or of components that are mounted on or attached to responding elements, and basic procedures are developed to bound the dynamic response of such items. Consideration is given to vertical as well as horizontal excitation, and the combination of the effects of the various exciations. Suitable approximations are developed for inelastic response estimates. One section of the paper is devoted to relative motions of points some distance apart, and to bounds for such relative motions. Recommendations are made for the general criteria governing the design of nuclear facilities, including the basic parameters governing response characteristics and energy absorption.