Considering the non-linear behavior of structure and soil when evaluating a nuclear power plant's seismic safety under a beyond-design basis earthquake is essential. In order to obtain the nonlinear response of a nuclear power plant structure, a time-domain SSI analysis method that considers the nonlinearity of soil and structure and the nonlinear Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) effect is necessary. The Boundary Reaction Method (BRM) is a time-domain SSI analysis method. The BRM can be applied effectively with a Perfectly Matched Layer (PML), which is an effective energy absorbing boundary condition. The BRM has a characteristic that the magnitude of the response in far-field soil increases as the boundary interface of the effective seismic load moves outward. In addition, the PML has poor absorption performance of low-frequency waves. For this reason, the accuracy of the low-frequency response may be degraded when analyzing the combination of the BRM and the PML. In this study, the accuracy of the analysis response was improved by adjusting the PML input parameters to improve this problem. The accuracy of the response was evaluated by using the analysis response using KIESSI-3D, a frequency domain SSI analysis program, as a reference solution. As a result of the analysis applying the optimal PML parameter, the average error rate of the acceleration response spectrum for 9 degrees of freedom of the structure was 3.40%, which was highly similar to the reference result. In addition, time-domain nonlinear SSI analysis was performed with the soil's nonlinearity to show this study's applicability. As a result of nonlinear SSI analysis, plastic deformation was concentrated in the soil around the foundation. The analysis results found that the analysis method combining BRM and PML can be effectively applied to the seismic response analysis of nuclear power plant structures.

Seismic designs for Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs) under earthquakes’ design basis are noticed due to the recent earthquake events in Korea and Japan. Japan has developed the technologies and experiences of the NPPs through theoretical research and experimental verification with extensively accumulated measurement data. This paper describes the main features of the design-time history complying with the Japanese seismic design standard. Proper seed motions in the earthquake catalog are used to generate one set of design time histories. A magnitude and epicentral distance specify the amplitude envelope function configuring the shape of the earthquake. Cumulative velocity response spectral values of the design time histories are compared and checked to the target response spectra. Spectral accelerations of the time histories and the multiple-damping target response spectra are also checked to exceed. The generated design time histories are input to the reactor building seismic analyses with fixed-base boundary conditions to calculate the seismic responses. Another set of design time histories is generated to comply with Korean seismic design procedures for NPPs and used for seismic input motions to the same reactor containment building seismic analyses. The responses at the dome apex of the building are compared and analyzed. The generated design time histories will be also applied to subsequent seismic analyses of other Korean standard NPP structures.

In this paper, we study the existing results of the structure-soil-structure interaction (SSSI) effect on seismic responses of structures and summarize important parameters. The parameters considered in this study are a combination of buildings in the power block of a nuclear power plant, the characteristics of earthquake ground motions and its direction, and the characteristics embedded under the ground. Based on these parameters, the seismic analysis model of the structures in the power block of the nuclear power plant is developed and the structure-soil-structure interaction analyses are performed to analyze the influence of the parameters on the seismic response. For all analyses, the soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis program CNU-KIESSI, which was developed to enable large-sized seismic analysis, is used. In addition, the SSI analyses is performed on individual structures and the results are compared with the SSSI analysis results. Finally, the influence of the parameters on the seismic response of the structure due to the SSSI effect is reviewed through comparison of the analysis results.