Scale model experiments of energy material shipping containers

An ongoing program is being conducted by Battelle's Columbus Laboratories as an integral part of an overall ECT program to overview and assess the adequacy of the public safety and environmental protection provided by containers used in the shipment of spent fuel, high-level wastes, and other DOE energy materials. The efforts of this program are directed toward development of improved techniques for assessment of cask response to specific dynamic impact conditions. Initial phases of the program were directed to verify the applicability of scale modeling techniques utilizing lead shielded/stainless steel cask models. Cask models 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 linear scale of a typical truck cask were tested. The results indicated that the elastic and plastic response of lead shielded casks can be predicted by tests of replica cask models. Tests conducted to produce only elastic strains in 1/8- and 1/4-scale models revealed that axial strains at four different locations agree with predictions from scaling theory within 20%; circumferential strains agreed within 40%. For tests of 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 scale models in which plastic strains were produced, strains generally agreed with scaling theory. These tests also revealed the influence of other conditions such as impact angle, temperature, material properties, and impact target on the response of the cask models. These data are being used by LASL in computer code development for analytically predicting cask response