Design and Licensing
ANATECH provides experienced structural engineering services to support the design and licensing of structural systems. Structural design typically isolates major structural components and their associated loads, so that simplified design formulas can be applied for section sizing. Load and resistance factors, along with applicable margins of safety, have proven reliable in accounting for uncertainties in these assumptions and for variations in loads, material performance, and construction detailing. Our experts use advanced tools for structural analyses in order to increase the life expectancy and loading requirements of sophisticated, modern structures.
By performing numerous design support analyses using finite-element modeling, engineers are able to evaluate holistically the composite action of the structure under all applicable design loads. Advanced modeling can incorporate the nonlinear effects of contact surfaces, friction, stress stiffening, material performance and the P-Δ loading effect as deformations increase.
With a view toward continuous improvement, ANATECH focuses on training its staff to incorporate ongoing computer advances into its programs, so that state-of-the-art global models are implemented, which still allow for specific refinements to meet the needs of local projects.
A main focus of ANATECH’s Design and Licensing team has been the Nuclear Power industry. For multiple customers, our seasoned team has successfully provided structural design analysis and defended its analysis during the licensing process with the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This type of success and experience makes ANATECH a leader in this field.
Our expertise in the area of Design and Licensing includes
Design by Analysis
ANATECH has extensive experience in design by analysis methods in support of structural design issues. Generally, these involve non-linear response in materials, such as concrete cracking or metal plasticity, and Level D loading conditions, such as regulatory drop accidents or impact loading within the design basis.
ANATECH can perform the detailed modeling and analysis and interpret the results to demonstrate whether or not allowable limits in the code requirements are satisfied. ANATECH can provide further support to assist in the design that all code requirements will be met.
Containment Integrity and Pressure Capacity
ANATECH performs detailed modeling and analyses to meet regulatory requirements for the pressure integrity and pressure capacity of primary containment systems for new reactor designs. We have advanced experience in the design of containment systems that have either reinforced concrete containment vessels (RCCV) or prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCV).
Design Basis Accidents
Computer modeling technology is also applied to determine the structural performance of primary containment systems that undergo simulated design basis accidents, involving elevated pressure and temperature conditions. This analysis can not only be performed to provide information about global structural response; it can also be performed for local effects analyses, such as liner backpressure which occurs due to concrete pore pressures that build up with elevated temperatures in the concrete.
Thermal Duty Cycling
Analyses of the long term effects of thermal cycling on structural performance, enables engineers to invoke material degradation due to temperature, time at temperature and thermal creep. An understanding of this process and ways to prevent material degradation ensures the design of primary containment systems that have structural integrity for over a 60-year-design lifetime.
Thermal Cracking and Creep
Nuclear structures are designed to resist deformations due to internal pressure, temperature extremes, and other loads such as impact and seismic loading. Because such structures with thick concrete sections and heavy reinforcement are inherently stiff, large internal stresses due to temperature differentials can develop. ANATECH performs detailed modeling and analysis to capture the dissipation of these thermal loads, which may result in cracking and associated global stress redistribution as the structural stiffness is reduced.
