Structural damping values as a function of dynamic response stress and deformation levels

Damping as it is normally defined is the means by which the response motion of a structural system is reduced as the result of energy losses. However, as used in the context of nuclear plant design, the effects of changes in structural stiffness, geometry, support configuration, and modulus of elasticity are also usually lumped under the general heading of damping in current design methods. For convenience in structural design, damping is usually assumed as viscous in nature and in recognition of its use in modal response spectrum dynamic analysis is normally expressed as a percent of critical. In general, it should be understood that damping as used in design or analysis of nuclear plants is an experimentally determined factor which is used to make the results of linear elasticity analysis of dynamic systems agree reasonably well with observed experimental results. In this paper, damping data existing in the open literature applicable to nuclear power plant structures and equipment is summarized and statistically analyzed. Results of this analysis is used to develop damping trend curves which predict applicable damping values to be used in design at various levels of stress or deformation.