July - September 2005
Issued by : EBG - Electrical Systems & Equipment, LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED, Powai Works, Mumbai 400 072
Prospect / Retrospect
L&T Switchboards Seismically Qualified
In critical applications, like Nuclear Power Plants,
Seismic Qualification of equipment is essential from
safety point of view. In order to define acceptance
criteria for various equipment depending on their
application, they are classified as :-
Class I : Where failure of equipment might cause or
increase the severity of a design basis accident or
result in an uncontrolled release of substantial
amount of radioactivity.
Class II : Structures and components which are
important to reactor operation, but not essential for
safe shutdown and isolation of the reactor, and
whose failure could not result in the release of a
substantial amount of radioactivity.
Class III : Structures not directly related to reactor
operation or safety in the event of a design-basis
accident and whose failure would not result in the
release of a significant amount of radioactivity. Loads
connected to class III bus can tolerate short
interruptions in the power supply.
Class IV : Structures not directly related to reactor
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operation or safety in the event of a design-basis
accident and whose failure would not result in the
release of a significant amount of radioactivity. Loads
connected to this system can tolerate prolonged
power supply interruptions.
Larsen & Toubro Limited, has successfully tested
its complete range of LV Switchboards for Seismic
Qualification for Class-II & Class-III. L&T is the only
LV switchboard manufacturer in India to have its
complete range Seismically Qualified.
The range covers :
& Power Control Centre
& Motor Control Centre
& AC Distribution Boards
& DC Distribution Boards
The test procedure was based on IEEE 344-1987
Recommended Practice for Seismic Qualification
of Class-1E equipment for Nuclear Power Generating
Stations.
This issue of L&T Current Trends elaborates on the
theory of earthquakes and the test essentials for
Seismic Qualification.
 FEATURE

Seismic Qualification of Electrical Equipment

- Mr. Tushar N. Shah
Switchgear Design & Development Centre

Introduction: of Seismic
waves through
Earthquakes are perhaps the rocks cause
most devastating and destructive shaking that we
forces in nature. Because of feel as
mans present inability to predict earthquakes.
and control them due to the ever-
increasing settlement of large The majority of
population in areas of high earthquakes
seismic activity, the human occur on the fault
exposure to earthquakes is lines which
increasing. This calls for demarcate the
protection of men and machinery. tectonic plates
Earthquake
The problem is more severe from the earths
because of the development and crust. Tension accumulates when
epicenter . The depth of the
application of highly sensitive the plates slowly shift away from
hypocenter varies greatly: from a
technology in critical facilities such each other. The sudden release
few kilometers to up to 100 km.
as nuclear power plants, high tech of distorting energy which has
industries, bridges, dams, thus accumulated inside the
A list of some of the significant
buildings etc. Thus a need for earths crust, or in the underlying
earthquakes in India and their
building reliability in equipment and layer called the mantle, provokes
location:
structures against vibration a local agitation. Some of this
hazards posed by these energy is then transformed into
earthquakes has gained prime seismic waves at
importance. the surface of the Date Epicenter Magnitude
ground. It is the 2001 Jan 26 Bhuj, Gujarat 7.9
1999 March 29 Chamoli, Uttar Pradesh 6.8
Seismic qualification is necessary creation of a fault
1997 May 22 Jabalpur, MP 6.0
for all those equipment and line, or more 1993 Sept. 30 Latur-Osmanabad, Maharashtra 6.3
structures which are designed to frequently the slide 1991 Oct. 20 Uttarkashi 6.6
remain functional during/after the along an existing 1988 Aug 21 Bihar-Nepal Border 6.4
occurrence of an earthquake. fault line, which 1975 Jan 19 Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh 6.2
constitutes the 1958 July 21 Anjar, Gujarat 7.0
Earthquakes: generating mecha- 1957 Dec 10 Koyna, Maharashtra 6.5
1950 Aug 15 AP-China Border 8.5
nism of an earth-
1943 Oct 23 Assam 7.2
Earthquakes are powerful quake. The place 1941 June 26 Andaman Islands 8.1
manifestations of sudden where it occurs is 1934 Jan 15 Bihar Nepal Border 8.3
releases of strain energy called the seismic 1930 July 2 Dhubri, Assam 7.1
accumulated during extensive time focus or the 1918 July 8 Assam 7.6
intervals. They radiate Seismic hypocenter . The 1905 April 4 Kangra, Himachal Pradesh 8.0
projection from this 1897 June 12 Shillong Plateau 8.7
waves of various types which
1885 May 30 Sopore, J&K 7.0
propagate in all directions through point to the ground 1869 Jan 10 Near Cachar, Assam 7.5
the Earths interior. The passage is called the 1819 June 16 Kutch, Gujarat 8.0
 Mercalli sub-assemblies and components
(intensity) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-11-12 as per National / International
standards.
Richter
(magnitude) 0-2 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 5-7 6-8 7-9 >8 The salient features of the system
The correlation between the Mercalli and Richter scales is completely indicative because they are as follows:
depend on soil type, distance from the seismic focus (from 5 to 100 km) and earthquake
duration. Table Size 3.0 x 3.0 m
Mode of Axis TRI AXIAL
Intensity & Magnitude: expresses the intensity of an
earthquake. It is a subjective Degrees of Six (3 translational
The Richter scale and the means to describe severity of the Freedom + 3 rotational motion)
modified Mercalli scale are the shock felt at a location. Pay Load 10 T
two common ways to express the
severity of an earthquake. Seismic Test System: Max. Height 10 m
of specimen
Richter scale indicates the Earthquake Engineering and AXIS X/Y Z
magnitude of an earthquake, Vibration Research Center of -Displacement (150mm) (100mm)
which is measured by the CPRI, Bangalore houses the -Velocity ( 1000mm/s )
amplitude of the seismic waves state-of-the-art tri-axial shaker -Acceleration ( 1 g )
and is related to the amount of system with six degrees of
energy released. freedom, capable of performing a Frequency Range 0.1 to 50 Hz
diverse range of seismic Yawing moment 0 ton.m
The modified Mercalli scale, qualification tests on equipment,
Overturning moment 40 ton.m
Intensity Modified Mercalli scale Actively controlled in 6 degrees of
freedom
1 Terror not felt.
2 Tremor felt by those resting or situated on top floors. The system consists of 4 vertical
3 Hanging objects move. Slight vibrations actuators and 4 horizontal actuators.
4 Vibrations similar to those provoked by a heavy lorry passing are felt.Window Waveforms of Response
panes and crockery rattle. Stationary vehicles sway.
Spectra of Seismic Tests:
5 Tremor felt outside buildings. Those sleeping are woken up. Small objects fall
down. Pictures are tipped sideways. Operating Basis Earthquake
6 Tremor felt by everyone. Furniture is moved. Damage: broken glass, objects (OBE) OBE level of earthquake
thrown from shelves, slight cracks appear in plastering. is expected to occur at the site
once in 100 years.
7 Tremor felt in moving vehicles. Those standing fall off balance, church bells
ring. Damage: chimneys and other external architecture break away, plaster
Safe Shutdown Earthquake
falls down, broken furniture, extended cracks in plastering and masonry,
some houses in brick collapse. (SSE) SSE level of earthquake
is expected to occur at the site
8 Drivers in moving vehicles experience difficulties. Branches fall from trees. once in 10000 years.
Fissures appear in waterlogged ground. Destruction: water towers, monuments,
brick houses. Slight to substantial damage: brick buildings, prefabricated Required Response Spectrum
houses, irrigation works, and causeways.
(RRS) The response spectrum
9 Sand craters in sandy and waterlogged ground in urban areas. Landslides. issued by the user as a part of
Fissuring in ground. Destruction: non-reinforced brick masonry. Slight to the specifications. The RRS
substantial damage: insufficiently reinforced concrete structures, underground constitutes a requirement to be
piping. met.
10 Landslides and major ground destruction. Destruction: bridges, tunnels, certain
reinforced concrete structures. Slight to substantial damage: the majority of Test Response Spectrum (TRS)
buildings, dams, railway lines. The response spectrum that is
11 Permanent ground deformation. developed from the actual time
history of the motion of the shake
12 Almost total destruction. table.
Generation of Waveforms:
& RRS is extrapolated into a
vector covering the whole
frequency range of interests,
with a spectral resolution of
sample rate/Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) block size.
& Random time history is
generated for specified
duration.
& FFT filter given by RRS is
applied.
& TRS of filtered time history is
computed. This is done by
generating a 2nd order low pass
filter. The process is repeated
for all frequencies between the
lowest to highest frequency.
& Low frequency end of final
acceleration time history is
modified and tapers are applied
to ensure the equivalent
velocity and displacement
histories start and finish at
zero.
& Overall acceleration amplitude
is adjusted to make sure that
the TRS exceeds RRS over
the whole frequency range of
interest.
Seismic Qualifications:
& Equipment is tested for the
following tests:
l Resonance Search Test:
These are generally not a
part of the seismic
qualification requirements.
These tests are carried out
at input levels well below the
required seismic
qualification vibration level
i.e. 0.2g. The resonance
search is carried out up to
50Hz. (Sweep rate: 1
octave per min.)
l 5nos. of Operating Basis
Earthquake (OBE) Test.
l 1no. of Safe Shutdown
Earthquake (SSE) Test.
Both OBE and SSE test is
conducted with the equipment
in energized condition.
Duration for the each OBE &
SSE test is 30 sec. During the
test, the condition of the relays/
products is monitored.
& There should not be mal-
operation of products mounted
in the switchboard.
& No permanent deformations or
cracks/fractures should be
developed in any of the
components/structures that will
affect satisfactory operation of
the equipment.
& All welding, bolting should be
intact. There should not be
cracks in welds or loosening
of bolts/hardware used for
fixing components.
& No undue chattering of
contacts should be observed
for a duration longer than
10ms.
& All the doors should remain
closed during testing.
Conclusion:
The high degree of continuity of
service required for electrical
distribution and control/monitoring
equipment demands that all types
of environmental restrictions
(mechanical, electromagnetic,
climatic) are taken into account.
Seismic stresses, which are
particularly destructive, are also
included and they must be
specified at the design stage of
the equipment.
Proving that the equipment
remains operational during or after
the earthquake is very difficult and
generally requires numerical
analysis to be combined with tests
on the operational elements. As
for quality or electromagnetic
compatibility, seismic withstand
must be mastered at the design
stage; if this is neglected then it
is often difficult and more
expensive to correct problems at
a later stage.

Typical TRS Plot for OBE Test Typical TRS Plot for SSE Test

For further details on this subject, please contact:

EBG - Electrical Systems & Equipment, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Saki-Vihar Road, P.O. Box 8901, Powai, Mumbai 400 072
Fax: 022-5505 1024 * E-mail: kotnisnd@Intebg.com

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