Development and Demonstration of a New Testing Capability for Simulating Multiple Fuel Assembly Impact During a Seismic Event Available to Purchase

As an important part in both product development and analytical model validation, Westinghouse continues to develop prototype testing capabilities. Towards better understanding fuel assembly’s structural performance during a seismic event, our recent effort was to develop a new testing capability for simulating multiple fuel assembly impact that may occur during a seismic event. The test system was developed by adding a pendulum system to our existing fuel assembly mechanical test stand. Following qualification of the testing system, a prototype fuel assembly was tested using selected pendulum parameters. Fuel assembly displacement, impact loads at various contact locations, and the spacer grid deformation as a function of impact forces were obtained. The test results provided new insights and understanding of the fuel assembly’s structural performance during a simulated seismic event, and are useful for model development and validation.