Analysis Method for Impact and Dispersion Behavior of Water-Filled Tank

Abstract

A new Japanese nuclear regulation involves estimating the possible damage to plant structures due to intentional aircraft impact. The effect of aircraft impact needs to be considered in the existing nuclear power plants. The structural damage and fuel dispersion behavior after aircraft impact into plant structures can be evaluated using finite element analysis (FEA). FEA needs validated experimental data to determine the reliability of the results. In this study, an analysis method was validated using a simple model such as a cylindrical tank. Numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the impact and dispersion behavior of a water-filled cylindrical tank. The simulated results were compared with the test results of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). The simulations were carried out using a multipurpose FEA code LS-DYNA®. The cylindrical tank was modeled using a shell element, and the tank water was modeled using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) elements. First, two analysis models were used to evaluate the effect of the number of SPH elements. One had about 300,000 SPH elements and the other had 37,000 SPH elements. The cylindrical tank ruptured in the longitudinal direction after crashing into a rigid wall, and the filled water dispersed. There were few differences in the simulated results when using different numbers of SPH elements. The VTT impact test was simulated with an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) element to consider the air drag. The analytical dispersion pattern and history of dispersion velocity ratio agreed well with the impact test results.