Seismic behaviour of piping systems with and without defects: experimental and numerical evaluations

Based on important experimental and analytical programs, CEA has developed a wide expertise in the domain of the seismic studies of piping. The specific behaviour of piping systems, with and without flaw, under seismic loading, has been analysed. CEA has evaluated the margins coming from present design procedures, that are shown to be greatly conservative, and has developed analytical methods devoted to a better evaluation of the global behaviour (internal moments in the piping system or reactions in supports, displacements, rotations). Non-linear time-history procedures have been built that allow for accurate modelisation, with and without defect. For industrial purposes or for sensitivity analyses, simplified methods have been proposed that are much less time consuming than non-linear time-history calculations, but much more accurate than linear methods. © 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.