FS CORE is a software programme that simulates the behaviour of a pressurised water reactor core during seismic excitation. It is used to estimate the impact between structures in the event of an earthquake to substantiate integrity.
Based on a porous environment approach and under development since 2006 in the IRESNE-DTN units, the finite-element code is included in the EUROPLEXUS environment (usually shortened to EPX), which is the simulation code of the Energy Division for transients coupled with explicit time integration.
Tests with PWR fuel assemblies on both a reduced and full scale under flow have been performed with dynamic loads. These tests have helped validate the approach proposed in the modelling.