Analysis of piping response to thermal and operational transients

The reactor piping system is an extremely complex three-dimensional structure. Maintaining its structural integrity is essential to the safe operation of the reactor and the steam-supply system. In the safety analysis, various transient loads can be imposed on the piping which may cause plastic deformation and possible damage to the system, including those generated from hydrodynamic wave propagations, thermal and operational transients, as well as the seismic events. At Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), a three-dimensional (3-D) piping code, SHAPS, aimed for short-duration transients due to wave propagation, has been developed. Since 1984, the development work has been shifted to the long-duration accidents originating from the thermal and operational transient. As a result, a new version of the code, SHAPS-2, is being established. This paper describes many features related to this later development. To analyze piping response generated from thermal and operational transients, a 3-D implicit finite element algorithm has been developed for calculating the hoop, flexural, axial, and torsional deformations induced by the thermomechanical loads. The analysis appropriately accounts for stresses arising from the temperature dependence of the elastic material properties, the thermal expansion of the materials, and the changes in the temperature-dependent yield surface. Thermal softening, failure, strain rate, creep, and stress ratching can also be considered.