Speaker
Description
Nuclear power plants must maintain containment integrity against extreme external hazards, with aircraft impact being a representative threat. Unlike land-based plants, a Floating Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) is subjected to impact loading while undergoing 6-DOF motion with hydrodynamic forces. Therefore, conventional impact analysis methods assuming fixed-base structures cannot be applied directly, and an assessment that jointly accounts for the impact load, subsequent fluid–structure interaction, and mooring-system response is required. This study investigates the aircraft impact response of a dolphin-moored, pontoon-type FNPP using an impact–structure–fluid fully coupled framework implemented through user subroutines in Abaqus, in which the hydrodynamic forces acting on the floating body are incorporated directly into the structural equations of motion. Two impact-loading approaches are compared. The first is a force-based decoupled approach, in which a Riera-based impact force time history is applied independently of the target response. The second is a missile–target interaction approach, in which a deformable missile is explicitly modeled and the impact force is determined through contact. The consistency of the impact force and transferred impulse between the two approaches is examined to verify the analysis procedure, while the missile model is further used to evaluate local damage. After impact, the induced 6-DOF motion is examined to assess floating stability, and the contact reaction, bending, and shear responses of the dolphin piles are evaluated to assess mooring integrity. The proposed procedure and findings provide a basis for future safety verification and design-basis development of floating nuclear power plants.
| Topic Area | Sustainable Ocean Structures |
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