Fluid-structure interactions in pressure-suppression pools: small-scale experiments

Experiments were conducted in a laboratory scale system to investigate fluid structure interaction effects on hydrodynamically induced boundary pressure histories. A single flexible member - a clamped circular plate - formed the base of a rigid cylindrical water pool. Base plate thicknesses were varied to vary the natural frequency of the plate pool system. Two types of hydrodynamic transients were tested: the first, a pressure rise over the flat pool surface, the second, an air driven pool swell involving large liquid displacements and a more complicated boundary pressure history. Pressures at various points on the pool boundary and strains on the flexible base were measured. A one-dimensional analysis of the perturbation pressure transients induced by the deflections of the flexible base is compared with the experimental results. Ratios of the peak pressures in the flexible and rigid systems for two archetypal pressure transients - a monotonic rise of variable rise time and a pressure pulse of variable duration are predicted analytically and compared with the experiments