© CEA – Saclay, France
SOCRAT
Seismic simulation of Overhead CRAne on shaking Table
What?
SOCRAT Benchmark is an international research program organised under the initiative of the OECD-NEA (Nuclear Energy Agency), IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire) and EDF (Electricité de France) on the seismic behavior of crane bridge
Who?
The participation to the SOCRAT benchmark is open to experts from research organizations, technical support organizations, regulatory authorities, consulting firms, and in general to all those accepting to perform computational simulation of experimentally tested crane bridges

About
Context
Crane bridges are handling devices used to lift and transfer heavy loads, widely used in the industry, including the nuclear industry.
Assessing the dynamic behavior of crane bridges may constitute an important issue for nuclear safety: within the context of seismic Level 1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) studies, these devices have been identified as significant contributors in the probability of core meltdown.
Moreover, modelling the mechanical behavior of such a device under seismic load is a challenging scientific and engineering exercise, due to the importance of contact dissipative phenomena such as friction, sliding and impacts in determining their dynamic response. The behavior of the anchoring seems to be the primary cause of failure of this equipment when loading is supposed beyond design conditions. Consequently, it is necessary to enhance the knowledge on the mechanical behavior of this equipment in order to fully understand its response to earthquakes and, in particular, to assess the efforts transmitted to the anchorages.
Objectives
The objectives of the SOCRAT international benchmark are:
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to identify best modeling practices of crane bridge devices,
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to identify relevant failure criteria.
In addition, a more midterm objective is to improve knowledge of crane bridge modeling practices to assess the associated seismic fragility with a high confidence level. Within the framework of the SOCRAT benchmark, works focus on the identification of best modeling practices; seismic fragility will not be included in its scope. However, issues related to the definition of seismic fragilities may be considered in a future activity.
An experimental campaign on a scaled model of an overhead crane bridge was carried out in 2015 on the shaking table of French Sustainable Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and has produced a large experimental database. These data will be used to characterize and calibrate the models, and to assess the predictive capacity in case of high intensity earthquakes.


Stage #1
Modeling - Calibration
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Necessary data are provided to participants: detailed descriptions of the geometry of the mock-up and all its components, including boundary conditions
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Description of the participants modeling assumptions
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Calibration for low seismic intensities
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Calibration for significantly higher seismic intensities
Participants will be provided with experimental data to calibrate their models

Contact and steering committee
Please feel free to contact us for further information using the form, or by mail at contact@socrat-benchmark.org
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Charles DROSZCZ, Géodynamique & Structure, France
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Ibrahim BITAR, IRSN, France
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Benjamin RICHARD, IRSN, France
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Fabien GRANGE, EDF, France
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Adrien GUILLOUX, EDF, France
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Jean-Mathieu RAMBACH, Géodynamique & Structure, France
To register for the Benchmark, please use the form on the page Registration to the Benchmark
You will also have to subscribe to this site using the top right link
© CEA – Saclay, France