Citation

Han SU, Ahn DG, Lee MG, Lee KH, Han SH. ScientificWorldJournal 2014; 2014: e743470.

Affiliation

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, ScientificWorld, Ltd.)

DOI

10.1155/2014/743470

PMID

24955416

PMCID

PMC4037630

Abstract

The structural integrity of valves that are used to control cooling waters in the primary coolant loop that prevents boiling within the reactor in a nuclear power plant must be capable of withstanding earthquakes or other dangerous situations. In this study, numerical analyses using a finite element method, that is, static and dynamic analyses according to the rigid or flexible characteristics of the dynamic properties of a 200A butterfly valve, were performed according to the KEPIC MFA. An experimental vibration test was also carried out in order to verify the results from the modal analysis, in which a validated finite element model was obtained via a model-updating method that considers changes in the in situ experimental data. By using a validated finite element model, the equivalent static load under SSE conditions stipulated by the KEPIC MFA gave a stress of 135 MPa that occurred at the connections of the stem and body. A larger stress of 183 MPa was induced when we used a CQC method with a design response spectrum that uses 2% damping ratio. These values were lower than the allowable strength of the materials used for manufacturing the butterfly valve, and, therefore, its structural safety met the KEPIC MFA requirements.

Language: en