Abstract
Dynamic buckling experiments on thin cylindrical shells placed inside a rigid liquid container were carried out by using a shaking table. The shells represent the thermal baffles and the container represents the reactor vessel of a fast breeder reactor. The fluid pressure caused by the horizontal excitation distributes nonuniformly around the cylinders and causes external pressure buckling deformation on them. The buckling pressure on various types of test cylinders and seismic waves was measured, and it was confirmed to be higher than that predicted by static buckling analysis. It was also found that sub harmonic vibration occurs under a certain sinusoidal-wave excitation, and the response displacement increases suddenly at a lower pressure than the buckling pressure measured by seismic-wave-excitation tests. The test results indicated that in seismic design to prevent buckling of the thermal baffles, the static bucklimg analysis can be used as ling as sub-harmonic vibration does not occur.
