July - September 2003
Issued by : EBG - Electrical Systems & Equipment, LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED, Powai Works, Mumbai 400 072
Siesmic Testing
Natural calamities like earth-
quakes can have disasterous
effect on the surroundings and
living beings. This is more so for
the area in and around power
plants, specially based on Nuclear
Power and Hydro Electric Power.
In case of a Nuclear Power Plant,
failure to arrest radioactive
process and shut down the
reactor in the event of an
earthquake can cause large scale
destruction.
Similarly, in case of a Hydro
Electric Plant, severity of tremours
is aggrevated due to higher water
levels in reservoirs. It can cause
major failure of power supply
system. Hence, it becomes
essential for all the emergency
equipment to function properly so
that effective control can be
exercised and the situation can be
brought under control.
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In order to face such eventualities,
it is essential to assess the
siesmic requirement at the
location of the plant and define the
same when specifications are
drafted for associated equipment.
It can also help the respective
equipment manufacturer to
understand the siesmic
requirements and offer the right
equipment.
This also increases the
responsibility of the equipment
manufacturers, who, in turn, have
to translate these requirements in
the design of the equipment so
as to make it suitable to withstand
and perform in the eventuality of
an earthquake.
Siesmic Qualification of the
equipment is the only way to
ensure that it will function properly
in the event of an earthquake, thus
improving the overall safety of the
plant.
L&T switchboard
with
Seismic Qualification
L&T's switchboard has
been Seismically qualified.
The testing was carried out
at Earthquake Engineering &
Vibration Research Centre
(EVRC) - Central Power
Reasearch Institute (CPRI),
Bangalore.
After the test, operation of
all the equipment, including
the circuit breaker, was
checked and found to be
satisfactory. The structural
integrity was also checked
and was found to be OK. All
the connections and circuit
components remained
healthy. The structure and
the equipment mounting
were in good condition.

Siesmic Qualification of Electrical Equipment
Power Plants consist of various
structures, systems and
equipment. The catastrophic
consequences of natural
calamities like earthquakes,
cyclones and floods need to be
considered while designing the
equipment for assuring safety of
the plant. Amongst these,
‘Earthquakes’, due to their high
levels of risk, pose the greatest
challenge to the engineers.
Earthquakes : An earthquake may
be described as the vibratory and
often violent movement of earth’s
surface, which is preceded by a
release of energy from the earth’s
crust. The alternating ground
motion, caused by the Earthquake
is harmful because of the
acceleration and thereby, the
inertial forces it induces in the
system components.
Earthquakes produce two general
types of vibrations :
L First is known as surface
waves, which travel along the
earth’s surface
L Second is called body waves,
which travel through the earth.
Equipment
Focus of earthquake
FEATURE
- Mr. C.S. Kore
Switchgear Design & Product Development
Surface waves generally have the
strongest vibrations, causing most
of the damage. Body waves
consist of compressional and
shear waves, which travel through
the earth’s interior starting from the
focus. The arrival time of
compressional and shear waves
at selected seismograph stations
throughout the world can indicate
the location and time of an
earthquake and often its focal
depth. Richter scale and modified
Mercalli scale are the two common
measurements to express the
severity of an earthquake.
Richter scale indicates the
magnitude of an earthquake,
which is measured by the
amplitude of the seismic waves
and is related to the amount of
energy released. The modified
Mercalli scale, expressing the
intensity of an earthquake, is a
subjective means to describe
severity of shock felt at a location.
The Richter scale is logarithmic
i.e. an excitation with ground
motion for an earthquake
measuring 6 on Richter scale will
be ten times
more than an
earthquake
measuring 5 on
Building
Richter scale
(or about thirty
Building foundation times the
energy). The
Layers of the e a r t h q u a k e
earth’s crust
intensity at a
particular
location is
measured by the modified Mercalli
scale ranging in values from I (“not
felt except by very few, favorably
situated”) to XII (“damage total,
lines of sight disturbed, objects
thrown into air”).
Earthquakes experienced by
equipment : To design an
equipment suitable for Seismic
zone, the equipment designer
must know the maximum
earthquake intensity that the
equipment will experience in the
location of its final operation. In
general, seismic waves in
equipment housed in a building are
different from those experienced
by the ground or the foundation.
Each medium (e.g. different layers
of earth’s crust, foundation of
building), because of its stiffness,
mass and damping
characteristics, responds
differently to the seismic waves.
Therefore, the characteristics of
waves alter as they pass through
each medium. Thus, the intensity
and frequency experienced by the
equipment can be quite different
from what is experienced by the
building foundation.
Hence, electrical equipment and
structure, failure of which during
earthquake can be disasterous,
need to be capable of withstanding
‘Earthquake forces’. These
components need to be
Seismically qualified.
The test procedure followed for
Seismic Qualification is prepared
based on IEEE 344-1987
‘Recommended Practice for
Seismic Qualification of Class-1E
equipment for Nuclear Power
Generating Stations’.
Seismic qualification : A brief
overview : The present Seismic
withstand criteria of electrical
equipment for Nuclear power
plants have evolved through the
development and growth of
nuclear power generating stations
for almost five decades. The
human loss and extensive property
damage caused by the 1964
Alaska earthquake aroused
widespread attention to proper
Seismic design of buildings and
structures. Seismic design and
qualification of PCCs and MCCs
is often a difficult and time
consuming process because of
the very complex nature of both
the earthquake and the electrical
equipment.
Seismic qualification is necessary
for those equipment and
structures, which are designed to
remain functional during/after the
occurrence of an earthquake.
Equipment classification in a
Nuclear Power Plant :
Class I – Those structures and
components, including
instruments and controls, failure
of which might cause or increase
the severity of a design basis
accident or result in uncontrolled
release of a substantial amount of
radioactivity. (Class 1E as defined
in the IEEE Std C37.100-1992.
‘The safety classification of the
electric equipment and systems
that are essential to reactor
emergency shutdown,
containment isolation, reactor core
cooling, and containment and
reactor heat removal, or otherwise
are essential in preventing
significant release of radioactive
material to the environment.’) e.g.
220V DC power supply from
batteries is the most reliable
system and is used for the supply
of the control circuit of circuit
breakers and other controls such
as diesel engine schematics.
Class II – Those structures and
components which are important
to reactor operation, but not
essential for safe shutdown and
isolation of the reactor, and whose
failure could not result in the
release of a substantial amount of
radioactivity. e.g. 415V AC 3 phase
system, derived from
uninterruptible power supply
system comprising rectifier,
inverter and a dedicated battery
bank.
Class III / IV - Those structures
not directly related to reactor
operation or safety in the event of
a design-basis accident and
whose failure would not result in
the release of a significant amount
of radioactivity.
e.g. The 6.6 kV and 415V 3 phase
system, connected to emergency
diesel generator to provide power
supply in the event of failure of
Class IV power supply. Class IV
power supply is derived from
220kV grid through start-up
transformer and from the turbo-
generator through unit transformer.
The loads connected to Class III
and Class IV systems can tolerate
short and prolonged power supply
interruptions respectively.
As can be seen, the performance
of Class I equipment is most
critical for safety against radiation
hazard in the event of any failure.
Hence, these equipment need to
be seismically qualified.
Seismic qualification : The
seismic qualification methods are
grouped into four general
categories that :
L predict the equipment
performance by analysis
L test the equipment under
simulated seismic conditions
L qualify the equipment by a
combination of test and
analysis
L qualify the equipment through
the use of experience data
Choice of a method is based on
the practicality of the method for
the type, size, shape and
complexity of the equipment
configuration. Equipment being
qualified must demonstrate that it
can perform its safety function
during and after an earthquake.
A few definitions
Operating Basis Earthquake
(OBE) – An earthquake that could
reasonably be expected to occur
at the plant site during the
operating life of the plant
considering the regional and local
geology and seismology and
specific characteristics of local
subsurface material. (For a given
site, OBE is expressed in terms
of magnitude of worst earthquake
occurred in the 300 km radius
from the plant. OBE level of
earthquake is expected to occur
at the site once in 100 years.)
Safe Shutdown Earthquake
(SSE) – An earthquake that is
based upon an evaluation of
maximum earthquake potential
considering the regional and local
geology and seismology and
specific characteristics of local
subsurface material. (For a given
site, SSE is expressed in terms
of magnitude of worst earthquake
occurred in the 300 km radius
from the plant increased in
intensity. SSE level of earthquake
is expected to occur at the site
once in 10000 years.)
Required Response Spectrum
(RRS) – The response spectrum
issued by the user as a part of his
specifications for qualification or
artificially created to cover future
applications. The RRS constitutes
a requirement to be met.
Test Response Spectrum (TRS)
– The response spectrum that is
developed from the actual time
history of the motion of the shake
table.
Equipment are required to be
tested for following tests:
L Resonance Search Test
L Operating Basis Earthquake
(OBE) Test
L Safe Shutdown Earthquake
(SSE) Test
Testing : The test method is
decided based on factors like
location of the equipment, nature
of the expected earthquake.
Mounting : The equipment is
mounted on the shake table in a
manner that simulates the
intended service mounting
(recommended bolt size, type,
torque, configuration and weld
pattern). The orientation of the
equipment during the test is
documented and is the only one
for which the equipment is
qualified. The interposing structure
if any used during the tests shall
be such that their use will not filter
out or change any frequencies
from the input motion.
Monitoring : Functional
monitoring equipment is used to
evaluate the functionality of the
equipment before, during and after
vibration test exposure. The
monitoring will vary depending on
the specific equipment. Vibration
sensors are to be located at
suitable locations to determine
response of equipment along all
three axes at those points in the
structure that reflect the
equipment response associated
with structural integrity.
Refurbishment : It is classified
into maintenance and repairs.
Maintenance e.g. calibration of
relays etc. may be performed and
testing continued. When
maintenance is performed during
OBE testing, it becomes part of
the post earthquake field
maintenance checks and
procedures for the equipment.
Repairs e.g. rewelding of portions
of the equipment, replacing
damaged components, such as
sheared bolts, if necessary during
the OBE test or SSE test, retest
is required unless justified
otherwise.
Exploratory test i.e. resonance
search test, are generally not a
part of the seismic qualification
requirements. These are run on
the equipment to determine the
best test method for qualification
or to determine the dynamic
characteristics of the equipment.
These tests are carried out at input
levels well below the required
seismic qualification vibration level.
The input levels of 0.2g are used.
The resonance search is carried
out upto 50Hz. (Sweep rate : 1
octave per min.)
The earthquake is relatively rich in
energy content in the frequency
range of 1 to 15Hz. The energy
content above the frequency of
15Hz reduces considerably and is
very less beyond 33Hz. Hence, as
a basic rule, the structure should
not exhibit resonance in the lower
frequency range.
Vibrational aging : Seismic
qualification tests on the
equipment must include OBE
tests. SSE tests are preceded by
OBE tests that produce the
equivalent fatigue effect. The
number of OBE shall be justified
for each site or shall produce the
equivalent effect of 5 OBE.
Following the aging using 5 OBE,
the equipment is subjected to SSE
to verify functionality of the
equipment.
For both the OBE and SSE, Test
Response Spectra (TRS) is
derived based on Required
Response Spectra (RRS)
supplied by the customer. TRS for
the test should envelop the RRS.
During the above OBE & SSE
tests (duration for the each OBE
& SSE test is 20 to 30 sec.-that is
typical duration of an earthquake),
the equipment is monitored for
operability. After the tests, the
equipment is checked for
operability and structural integrity.
This is to ensure highest reliability
and continuous performance after
such field conditions.
Conclusion :
Whenever any equipment,
especially the one involved in
electrical power distribution, is
required to be siesmically stable,
it is very important to incorporate
the necessary precautions in the
basic design itself. This is
extremely important to ensure
complete reliability of the
equipment.

For further details on this subject, please contact:

EBG - Electrical Systems & Equipment, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Saki-Vihar Road, P.O. Box 8901, Powai, Mumbai 400 072
Fax: 022-2858 1024 * E-mail: kotnisnd@Intebg.com

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