Numerical simulation analyses of damage and vibration response of a nuclear power plant under aircraft impact

The impact of commercial aircraft became a beyond design basis accident that must be considered for nuclear power plants after 9/11 incident. Aiming to explore a reasonable and reliable numerical simulation method to accurately evaluate the damage and vibration responses of a nuclear power plant under the impact of a commercial aircraft, firstly, the 1 : 15 scaled model test of aircraft impacting the nuclear power plant was simulated. The accuracy of the adopted material model and parameters as well as the numerical simulation method was verified by comparing with the damage of the plant structures and the acceleration-time histories of the plant at different elevations in the test. A refined finite element model of the prototype AP1000 nuclear power plant was further developed, numerical simulation of A320 aircraft at 100 m/s impacting the API000 reactor building at the crane girder elevation was performed, and the damage of the plant and the vibration responses of the crane girder were evaluated. Results show that, in the present scenario, the impact of commercial aircraft on the reactor building will lead to the perforation in the fuselage impact region, while the internal steel containment vessel can maintain its overall tightness; the vibrations of crane girder are below the limit, the crane will not drop, the safety of reactor is guaranteed. © 2023 Chinese Vibration Engineering Society. All rights reserved.