Design and Verification of a Test Bench for RCP: A Finite Element and Vibration Test Research

The reactor coolant pump(RCP) is the only continuous power source of the nuclear islands, of which the core requirements are safety, reliability, and durability. We designed and established a high-temperature and high-pressure test bench to comprehensively assess the performance of the RCP. In this study, we summarized the design and test methods of the RCP test bench. The main research work includes: (1)A pipeline model was developed based on CAESAR II, and the primary and secondary stresses were verified; (2)The wet modal analysis of the test bench was conducted using finite element method to avoid system resonance; (3)The flow field distribution, flow-induced vibration, and the influence of S-shaped elbow were analyzed based on computational fluid dynamics(CFD) and fluid-solid coupling methods; (4)The vibration acceleration of the RCP was measured. We found that the higher the flow rate and temperature of the working fluid, the greater the loss of velocity and pressure in the pipeline system. In addition, the variation of flow rate mainly affected the amplitude of structural vibration, but had little effect on the frequency of peak points. The test bench successfully passed various performance tests, and our methods and findings may be helpful for similar projects.