Considerations in seismic qualification of insulation systems

Seismic qualification of safety related equipment has been of concern to the insulation industry for nuclear power plant application since the early 1970´s. Most recently, these concerns have been expanded to other industries through building codes, design criteria, etc. This paper will present a comparison of the three most common techniques used for seismic qualification: full scale testing, analysis and combined test/analysis. Two case examples will be presented to highlight the most resent technical qualification breakthrough; combined test and analysis.