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on 3/21/25 at 9:53 AM
Background
Bridge cranes, which are components that handle devices designed to lift and transfer heavy loads, are widely used in the nuclear sector. Assessing the dynamic behaviour of bridge cranes is essential for nuclear safety. Indeed, despite favorable seismic experience feedback (EPRI, 2005a; EPRI, 2005b) within the context of seismic level 1 probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) studies, these devices have been identified as significant contributors to the probability of core meltdown in case of failure.
Moreover, modelling the mechanical behaviour of such a device under seismic load is a challenging scientific and engineering exercise due to the importance of accounting for nonlinearities such as frictional sliding and local shocks. The behaviour of the anchoring system seems to be one of the possible causes of failure of this component when loading is assumed beyond the design conditions. Consequently, it is necessary to enhance knowledge on the dynamic behaviour of this component to fully understand its response to earthquakes and to assess the efforts transmitted by the crane to the anchors.
Objective
Within this scope, the SOCRAT (Seismic Simulation of Overhead CRAne on shaking Table) international benchmark, organised by the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (France’s Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, or IRSN) and Electricity of France (EDF) under the umbrella of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), was launched in June 2020. Its initial objectives were: (i) to identify best modelling practices of bridge crane devices in the beyond design domain; and (ii) to identify relevant failure criteria.
