Application of frequency domain analysis to transient response of nuclear containment structures

A combination of frequency domain and time domain analyses is proposed to obtain the dynamic responses of nuclear power plant containment structures. A soil-structure model of a boiling water reactor containment subjected to an assumed safety relief valve blowdown load is used as illustration. Linear time-invariant systems are analyzed using input forcing functions with varying frequency contents. Time domain analysis is performed using a synthesized input forcing function. The system characteristic function is generated in the frequency domain through Fourier transforms of the response time history and the synthesized input time history. The frequency response due to any other forcing function is obtained in frequency domain by using the system characteristic function, and the response time history is obtained by inverse Fourier transforms of the frequency response. The results obtained by the proposed method are in close agreement with the conventional time domain dynamic finite element analysis.