Abstract
Vibration has been severly increased at the branch pipe of main steam header since the commercial operation of nuclear power plant. Intense broad band disturbance flow at the discontinuous region such as elbow, valve, and header generates the acoustical pulsation which is propagated through the piping system. The pulsation becomes the source of low frequency vibration at piping system. If it coincide with natural frequency of the pipe system, excessive vibration is made. High level vibration due to the pressure pulsation related to high dynamic stress, and ultimately, to failure probability affects fatally the reliability and confidence of plant piping system. This paper discusses vibration effect for the branch pipe system due to acoustical pulsations by broad band disturbance flow at the large main steam header in 700 MW nuclear power plant. The exciting sources and response of the piping system are investigated by using on-site measurements and analytical approaches. It is identified that excessive vibration is caused by acoustical pulsations of 1.3 Hz, 4.4 Hz and 6.6 Hz transmitted from main steam balance header, which are coincided with fundamental natural frequencies of the piping structure. The energy absorbing restraints with additional stiffness and damping factor were installed to reduce excessive vibration.
