Analytical study for frequency effects on the EPRI/USNRC piping component tests. Part 1: Theoretical basis and model development

As part of the engineering effort for the Advanced Light Water Reactor the Advanced Reactor Corporation formed a Piping Technical Core Group to develop a set of improved ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III design rules and approaches for ALWR plant piping and support design. The technical basis for the proposed changes to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code developed by Technical Core Group for the design of piping relies heavily on the failure margins determined from the EPRI/USNRC piping component test program. The majority of the component tests forming the basis for the reported margins against failure were run with input frequency to natural frequency ratios (Ω/ω) in the range of 0.74 to 0.87. One concern investigated by the Technical Core Group was the effect which could exist on measured margins if the tests had been run at higher or lower frequency ratios than those in the limited frequency ratio range tested. Specifically, the concern investigated was that the proposed Technical Core Group Piping Stress Criteria will allow piping to be designed in the low frequency range (Ω/ω ≥ 2.0) for which there is little test data from the EPRI/USNRC test program. The purpose of this analytical study was to: (1) evaluate the potential for margin variation as a function of the frequency ratio (Rω = Ω/ω, where Ω is the forcing frequency and ω is the natural component frequency), (2) recommend a margin reduction factor (MRF) that could be applied to margins determined from the EPRI/USNRC test program to adjust those margins for potential margin variation with frequency ratio. Presented in this paper is the analytical approach and methodology, which are inelastic analysis, which was the basis of the study. Also, discussed is the development of the analytical model, the procedure used to benchmark the model to actual test results, and the various parameter studies conducted