Grant: Engage Grants Program

Curtiss-Wright Nuclear Canada (CWNC) is a company that offers a wide range of products and services that support the nuclear power industry including the seismic testing of different components. Seismic testing is frequently performed on safety related components using state-of-the-art seismic testing table. The seismic table is an equipment that is used to shake structure models or components with a wide range of simulated ground motion in six degrees of freedom. The simulated ground shaking should follow a theoretical response spectrum termed the Required Response Spectrum (RRS). However, in certain scenarios, if this response is not simulated exactly, the actual response of the table can not be measured, which is referred to by the term, Test Response Spectrum (TRS). If the TRS varies significantly from the RRS, a feedback control should be applied so that the TRS is at most equal to two times the RRS. If this is not achieved in the tested case, an over-testing situation is obtained. It is not clear why this issue exist in the table. Therefore the main objective of this proposal is to investigate the over-testing behavior of the seismic table and develop an effective technique that can be implemented to mitigate this behavior. The outcome of this project will enhance the confidence in seismic qualification of safety related and critical components used in the nuclear industry.