Computational methods for nonlinear fluid-structure interactions

In the safety analysis of nuclear reactors, problems often occur in which the performance of structures which are in contact with fluid must be predicted in the presence of severe material and geometric nonlinearities. This paper describes various efforts which have been made over the last three to four years to achieve a highly efficiency computer code structure for this class of problems. These findings have been implemented in the computer code SAFE/RAS, and in this paper, the structure and capabilities of the code, the specific developments for enhancing computational efficiency, and sample problems which are relevant to nuclear safety are described