Case Study: TÜV SÜD achieves nuclear plant safety and lifecycle extension with Dassault Systèmes' Abaqus FEA

Certifying nuclear power plants with Abaqus FEA from SIMULIA

TÜV SÜD, a global technical services group that independently tests, inspects, and certifies nuclear facilities, needed to ensure reactor safety and extend plant lifespans by identifying and correcting degradation and regulatory risks. To address this challenge they used Abaqus FEA from SIMULIA (part of Dassault Systemes) to evaluate structural integrity under scenarios such as pressurized thermal shock, earthquakes, impacts, and radiation embrittlement.

Using Dassault Systemes' Abaqus FEA, TÜV SÜD built detailed reactor pressure vessel models and ran linear elastic and elastic/plastic simulations to locate stress concentrations and predict failure modes during rapid cooling and high-pressure events. The analyses showed the example vessel would withstand a loss-of-coolant event over a 40-year lifespan, demonstrating regulatory compliance and providing measurable evidence to support licensing and life‑extension decisions.

TÜV SÜD

Wolfgang Hienstorfer

Head of the Department of Structural Analysis