Analytical determination of package response to severe impact

One important part of radioactive material transport risk assessments is amount of release from packages in accidents more severe than design basis accident (US NRC 10CFR71 1995). In order to remove some of the conservatism from current risk assessments, an effort is ongoing to qualify the finite element method for predicting cask performance by comparing analytical results to test measurements of the Structural Evaluation Test Unit (SETU) cask. Comparisons of deformed shapes, strains, and accelerations were made for impact velocities of 13.4, 20.1, and 26.8 m/s (30, 45, and 60 mph). The 13.4 m/s impact corresponds to the regulatory 9 m (30 ft) free fall, and the others correspond to impacts with 2.25 and 4 times the kinetic energy of the regulatory impact. One other analysis at an impact velocity of 38.0 m/s (85 mph) or 8 times regulatory impact kinetic energy was also done