Shock and vibration environments. Road simulator tests

The study was undertaken as an element of a programme directed at determining the shock and vibration environments encountered during the normal transportation of nuclear materials. Previous data for a large number of shipments have been reviewed and over-the-road tests have been conducted. These previous efforts have resulted in a shock-spectra description which bounds the environments anticipated during normal shipment. The study seeks to extend these results. This goal is being accomplished with road simulator experiments and the continued development of an analytical model. The results will be an improved ability to predict the shock and vibration environment for a given shipment and an improved ability to design critical elements of the system, such as tie-downs. The paper discusses the experimental programme. The experiments consisted of two road simulator tests. The system response and the known input resulted in defined frequency response functions for the system. These results provide the final data required for the development and verification of an analytical model. (author)