• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.39-46
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• 2009

The selection of an evaluation response spectrum can have a significant effect on the seismic fragility evaluation of a structure. A method for modifying the seismic fragility parameters that are calculated based on the design spectrum is described in this study. The modification factor is used to modify the original fragility parameters. The HCLPF (High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure) acceleration levels of the electric system using previous design spectrum and uniform hazard spectrum (UHS) were compared. Finally, seismic risk analyses were performed according to a uniform hazard spectrum. From the results, it was concluded that based on the design spectrum, seismic risk for the electric system might be underestimated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.32-40
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• 2018

Since 2000, the frequency of earthquakes beyond the 5.0 magnitude quake has been increasing in the Korean peninsula. For instance, the 5.0-magnitude earthquake in Baekryong-do in 2003 has occurred, and recent earthquake with Gyeongju(2016) and Pohang(2017) measured respectively magnitude of 5.2 and 5.8 on the Richter scale. As results, the public concern and anxiety about earthquakes are increasing, and therefore it is necessarily required for social infrastructure to reinforce seismic design and energy production facilities directly related to the national economy and security. This study represents the analysis of seismic performance evaluation methodology such as Seismic Margin Assessment (SMA), Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (SPRA), High Confidence Low Probability Failure (HCLPF) in nuclear power plants in order to develop optimal seismic performance improvement. Current methodologies to evaluate nuclear power plants are also addressed. Through review of the nuclear structure evaluation past and current trend, it contributes to be the basis for the improvement of evaluation techniques on the next generation of nuclear power plants.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.47-56
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• 2001

In order to assure the safety of NPP structures, margin of safety or conservatism is incorporated in each design step. Seismic risk evaluation of NPP structures is performed based on the realistic capacity and response of structure eliminated the safety margin and conservatism. In this study, the comparative study on the various evaluation methods of the inelastic energy absorption capacity was performed. The inelastic energy absorption capacity due to the nonlinear behavior of structures has significant effect on the results of seismic probabilistic risk assessment. And the comparison study of the HCLPF(high confidence of low probability of failure) values according to the inelastic energy absorption factors was performed. As a conclusion, the inelastic energy absorption factor of NPP containment structure is estimated about 1.5~1.75. It is essential to estimate the nonlinear behavior of structure and its ductility factor correctly for the seismic risk assessment.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.179-189
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• 2021

Conditional spectra (CS) are applied to the seismic fragility assessment of a nuclear power plant (NPP) containment building for comparison with a relevant conventional uniform hazard response spectrum (UHRS). Three different control frequencies are considered in developing conditional spectra. The contribution of diverse magnitudes and epicentral distances is identified from deaggregation for the UHRS at a control frequency and incorporated into the conditional spectra. A total of 30 ground motion records are selected and scaled to simulate the probability distribution of each conditional spectra, respectively. A set of lumped mass stick models for the containment building are built considering nonlinear bending and shear deformation and uncertainty in modeling parameters using the Latin hypercube sampling technique. Incremental dynamic analysis is conducted for different seismic input models in order to estimate seismic fragility functions. The seismic fragility functions and high confidence of low probability of failure (HCLPF) are calculated for different seismic input models and analyzed comparatively.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.301-309
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• 2019

A methodology to assess seismic fragility of a nuclear power plant (NPP) using a conditional mean spectrum is proposed as an alternative to using a uniform hazard response spectrum. Rather than the single-scenario conditional mean spectrum, which is the conventional conditional mean spectrum based on a single scenario, a multi-scenario conditional mean spectrum is proposed for the case in which no single scenario is dominant. The multi-scenario conditional mean spectrum is defined as the weighted average of different conditional mean spectra, each one of which corresponds to an individual scenario. The weighting factors for scenarios are obtained from a deaggregation of seismic hazards. As a validation example, a seismic fragility assessment of an NPP containment structure is performed using a uniform hazard response spectrum and different single-scenario conditional mean spectra and multi-scenario conditional mean spectra. In the example, the number of scenarios primarily influences the median capacity of the evaluated structure. Meanwhile, the control frequency, a key parameter of a conditional mean spectrum, plays an important role in reducing logarithmic standard deviation of the corresponding fragility curves and corresponding high confidence of low probability of failure (HCLPF) capacity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1331-1344
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• 2021

This study is to evaluate the seismic capacity of the fire-damaged cabinet facility in a nuclear power plant (NPP). A prototype of an electrical cabinet is modeled using OpenSees for the numerical simulation. To capture the nonlinear behavior of the cabinet, the constitutive law of the material model under the fire environment is considered. The experimental record from the impact hammer test is extracted trough the frequency-domain decomposition (FDD) method, which is used to verify the effectiveness of the numerical model through modal assurance criteria (MAC). Assuming different temperatures, the nonlinear time history analysis is conducted using a set of fifty earthquakes and the seismic outputs are investigated by the fragility analysis. To get a threshold of intensity measure, the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) is adopted for uncertainty reduction purposes. Finally, a capacity estimation model has been proposed through the investigation, which will be helpful for the engineer or NPP operator to evaluate the fire-damaged cabinet strength under seismic excitation. This capacity model is presented in terms of the High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure (HCLPF) point. The results are validated by the proper judgment and can be used to analyze the influences of fire on the electrical cabinet.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.511-519
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• 2019

The concrete gravity dam is one of the most important parts of the nation's infrastructure. Besides the benefits, the dam also has some potentially catastrophic disasters related to the life of citizens directly. During the lifetime of service, some degradations in a dam may occur as consequences of operating conditions, environmental aspects and deterioration in materials from natural causes, especially from dynamic loads. Cumulative Absolute Velocity (CAV) plays a key role to assess the operational condition of a structure under seismic hazard. In previous researches, CAV is normally used in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) fields, but there are no particular criteria or studies that have been made on dam structure. This paper presents a method to calculate the limitation of CAV for the Bohyeonsan Dam in Korea, where the critical Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) is estimated from twelve sets of selected earthquakes based on High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure (HCLPF). HCLPF point denotes 5% damage probability with 95% confidence level in the fragility curve, and the corresponding PGA expresses the crucial acceleration of this dam. For determining the status of the dam, a 2D finite element model is simulated by ABAQUS. At first, the dam's parameters are optimized by the Minitab tool using the method of Central Composite Design (CCD) for increasing model reliability. Then the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is used for updating the model and the optimization is implemented from the selected model parameters. Finally, the recorded response of the concrete gravity dam is compared against the results obtained from solving the numerical model for identifying the physical condition of the structure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.386-400
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• 2022

Seismic fragility analysis, a part of seismic probabilistic risk assessment (SPRA), is commonly used to establish the relationship between a representative property of earthquakes and the failure probability of a structure, component, or system. Current guidelines on the SPRA of nuclear power plants (NPPs) used worldwide mainly reflect the earthquake characteristics of the western United States. However, different earthquake characteristics may have a significant impact on the seismic fragility of a structure. Given the concern, this study aimed to investigate the effects of earthquake characteristics on the seismic fragility of concrete containments housing the OPR-1000 reactor. Earthquake time histories were created from 30 ground motions (including those of the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake) by spectral matching to the site-specific response spectrum of Hanbit nuclear power plants in South Korea. Fragility curves of the containment structure were determined under the linear response history analysis using a lumped-mass stick model and 30 ground motions, and were compared in terms of earthquake characteristics. The results showed that the median capacity and high confidence of low probability of failure (HCLPF) tended to highly depend on the sustained maximum acceleration (SMA), and increase when using the time histories which have lower SMA compared with the others.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.653-656
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• 2010

월성 1호기 격납건물에 대하여 극한내압하중에 대한 확률론적 취약도 평가를 수행하였다. 격납건물 성능의 불확실성은 가동중 검사 결과를 통해 얻어진 재료 물성치 중앙값과 텐던 긴장력 중앙값을 적용하여 고려하였다. 격납건물은 개구부를 고려하여 3차원 유한요소로 모델링하였으며, 확률론적 취약도 평가를 위하여 대규모의 비선형 유한요소 해석 모델을 적용하기에 적합한 효율적인 취약도 평가 기법을 개발하였다. 월성 1호기 격납건물에 대한 취약도 평가 결과, 벽체 중단부가 극한내압발생으로 인한 방사능물질 누출에 가장 취약한 것으로 나타났으며, 중앙값 성능은 약 55psi, 고신뢰도 저파괴 파괴확률값인 HCLPF(High Confidence Low Probability of Failure)는 약 29psi를 나타내었다.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.101-109
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• 2003

In evaluating the individual Plant Examination of Seismic Events, two methodologies, Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment(SPRA) and Seismic Margin Assessment(SMA) can be used. SPRA is based on the probubilistic approach and SMA is based on the deterministic approach in evaluating seismic capacities. In this paper, by evaluating the seismic capacities of the same component by these two approaches respectively, the correlation of two methodologies can be shown. In addition, the meaning of HCLPF(High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure) values that are inherent in these two methodologies is recognized by the quantitative comparison analysis.