Earthquake fatigue effects on CANDU nuclear power plant equipment.

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the seismic fatigue effects on equipment located in CANDU nuclear power plants. The supporting structure and equipment are each modelled as single degree of freedom systems. The equipment responses are evaluated for realistic ranges of structural and equipment frequencies. Using common material fatigue life curves, a method is devised to calculate the number of fatigue cycles equivalent to the total seismic response, with reference to some specific amplitude of response.