Shaking Table Test for Mechanical Structures in High Acceleration and High Frequency Range

Abstract

The experience of recent major earthquakes has led to the advancement of seismic safety of structures in a variety of research fields. In particular, more importance is being placed on the ability to maintain functionality after earthquakes by improving the seismic integrity of equipment and piping in critical facilities such as power generation facilities, which are required to maintain basic functions. Furthermore, regarding nuclear safety, not only studies targeting external events such as seismic ground motions, but also studies focusing on aircraft crash scenarios, which have acceleration and frequency regions different from those in seismic ground motions, are being conducted. In order to experimentally evaluate the reliability of structures in the event of such an aircraft crash scenario, it is necessary to have a shaking table test facility that can simulate a collision and has the capability of shaking at high acceleration as well as high frequency range. Shaking tables are generally classified into hydraulic and electrodynamic types. The electrodynamic shaking tables are more effective in satisfying high acceleration excitation performance in the high frequency range. This paper summarizes the status of shaking table test of mechanical structures in the high frequency and high acceleration range by presenting some examples of vibration tests using the electrodynamic shaking table, which has been in use since 2022.