Experimental, analytical, and regulatory evaluation of seismic behavior of piping systems

Based on an experimental program, including both individual components and piping system, CEA has evaluated the margins coming from present design procedures and has developed sound analytical methods that allow for a modelization, in the linear or nonlinear domain. For industrial purposes, simplified methods are proposed that are much less time-consuming than nonlinear time-history calculations, but much more accurate than linear methods. They are devoted to a better evaluation of the global behavior (internal moments in the piping system or reactions in supports, displacements, rotations).