P-CARES: Probabilistic Computer Analysis for Rapid Evaluation of Structures (NUREG/CR-6922)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: November 2006
Date Published: January 2007

Prepared by:
J. Nie, J. Xu, and C. Costantino

Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY 11973-5000

V. Thomas, NRC Project Manager

Prepared for:
Division of Fuel, Engineering and Radiological Research
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

NRC Job Code N6103

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Abstract

Brookhaven National Laboratory undertook an effort to revise the CARES program under JCN N-6103. The revised CARES program (which is referred to as P-CARES in this report) includes many improvements over the existing CARES. A major improvement is the enhanced analysis capability in which a probabilistic algorithm has been implemented to perform the probabilistic site response and soilstructure interaction (SSI) analyses. This is accomplished using several sampling techniques such as the Latin Hypercube sampling (LHC), engineering LHC, the Fekete Point Set method, and also the traditional Monte Carlo simulation. This new feature enhances the site response and SSI analyses such that the effect of uncertainty in local site soil properties can now be quantified. Another major addition to P-CARES is a graphical user interface (GUI) which significantly improves the performance of P-CARES in terms of the inter-relations among different functions of the program, and facilitates the input/output processing and execution management. It also provides many user-friendly features that would allow an analyst to quickly develop insights from the analysis results.

This report describes the theoretical basis, probabilistic and deterministic site response and SSI analysis capabilities and many user-friendly features which have been implemented in P-CARES. Although the execution of P-CARES is driven by on-screen commands powered by the GUI and is self-explanatory, a user's guide is included in this report to serve either as a quick start or as a reference material for navigating through the program.