Design and Analysis of Metallic Containment

Abstract

Nuclear vessels are required for power generation purposes. In these type of vessels a reactor pres- sure vessel containing the nuclear reactor is used for generating power. A nuclear reactor, formerly known as an atomic pile, is a device used to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in propulsion of ships. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators. Today there are about 450 nuclear power reactors that are used to generate electricity in about 30 countries around the world. The metallic containment is a self-sustained vessel which is covered by Seismic Category 1 re- inforced concrete Shield Building. The metallic containment works as a boundary in encasing the Class 1 Nuclear Equipments and also as a protective layer during the times of leakage or radioactive hazards. It is very crucial to design the metallic containment in such a manner that it can undergo design, service (operation) and test conditions safely. The work consists of implementing the procedures of design of metallic containment as given by ASME BPVS Sec III, Div. 1, Class-NE. This code is used only for metallic components and their appurtenances. The metallic containment is designed according to the rules that are provided in this code in Article-3000. An automated Microsoft Excel is generated following the described procedure as given in ASME BPVS Sec III Div. I, Class-NE Article-3000 to get the desired output. The CAD model is prepared using UG NX 7.5 while the meshing is done using Altair Hypermesh 13.0. After the meshing is completed different load cases will be considered and applied on the metallic containment and the analysis will be done using ANSYS 15.0. The results of the analysis done will be compared with the theoretical results which are obtained from the code. By the help of an automated Microsoft Excel generated as per the described procedures of ASME Sec III Class-NE the Metallic Containment is designed. By the help of FEA analysis the design of the Metallic Containment has been found satisfactory as [er ASME Sec III Class-NE.