Analytical simulation of nonlinear response to seismic test excitations of HDR-VKL piping system

Dynamic tests with simulated earthquake excitation (SHAM) were performed during April--May 1988 on the Versuchskreislauf (VKL) piping system at the Heissdampfreaktor (HDR) Test Facility in Kahl/Main, Federal Republic of Germany. The major objectives of these tests were to study the behavior of a full-scale in-plant piping system subjected to a range of seismic excitation levels (from design levels to those that might induce either failure of pipe supports or plasticity in the pipe runs) and to establish seismic margins for piping and pipe supports. Data obtained in the tests are also being used to validate analytical methods for piping response calculation. Detailed reports on the SHAM experiments are given elsewhere by Kot et al. (1990). This paper describes an effort to evaluate the computer code NONPIPE (proprietary to Nutech Engineers) with data from one of the SHAM tests. NONPIPE is a nonlinear finite-element program capable of calculating the elastic-plastic response of piping systems subjected to seismic excitation. The special characteristic of this code is the simplified or approximate approach it uses for modeling the elastic behavior which makes the calculations relatively less resource intensive than those of other nonlinear codes. The evaluation is based on a comparison of computational results of simulation of a SHAM test with corresponding test measurements. 6 refs., 10 figs