Modal Analysis of an ECC Duct for APR+ Reactor Barrel

Abstract

Advanced Power Reactor Plus (APR+) provides four Direct Vessel Injection (DVI) ducts on the reactor barrel to enhance the performance of Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS). Several studies on safety analysis have verified the excellent performance of the DVI duct. In this study, from the viewpoint of mechanical integrity, modal analyses of two full-scaled DVI ducts have been presented; both numerical analysis and modal tests have been performed in air and water. It was found that the numerical simulation and modal test coincide with each other. The DVI duct is a thin shell of 5 mm thickness, so that harmonic responses to RCP blade passing frequencies should be checked. The dominant passing frequencies are known to be 20, 40, 60, 120 and 240 Hz. In addition, an interesting thing in this study is that added mass effect by coolant seems to be so significant that the natural frequency of the ducts under water could be considerably low as compared with those in air; the natural frequency under water is 60 % lower than that in air.