TY - CONF A1 - Qiao, Linan A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Musolff, André A1 - Komann, Steffen T1 - Dynamic finite element analyses of a spent fuel transport and storage cask with impact limiters by 9 meter drop tests N2 - The 9 meter drop onto an unyielding target is one of the important mechanical tests within the safety assessment of transport casks for radioactive material. In general, the cask is equipped with impact limiters to reduce the dynamic load on the cask body by absorbing a major part of the kinetic energy. The impact limiters are often made of wood or aluminium. In this study an elastic-plastic material model with volume change was used to describe the stress-strain behaviour of wood found in crush tests. For aluminium, an elastic-incremental plastic material model with Cowper-Symonds parameters for strain rate depending material hardening was used to model the adiabatic stress-strain relations measured at specimens at constant ambient temperature. Hereafter simulations with a sophisticated finite element model were carried out and compared with different drop tests. Four drop tests of a half-scale cask model equipped with wood and aluminium impact limiters with different drop positions were selected to investigate the impact limiter behaviour during a 9 meter drop test. All drop tests were simulated with the same FE mesh but under different boundary and initial conditions. T2 - SIMULIA Customer conference CY - Barcelona, Spain DA - 17.05.2011 KW - Cask KW - Drop test KW - Impact limiter KW - Wood KW - Aluminium KW - Dynamics PY - 2011 SP - 932 EP - 944 AN - OPUS4-23706 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Qiao, Linan A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Völzke, Holger A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Musolff, André ED - Topping, B.H.V. T1 - Validation of numerical simulation models for transport and storage casks using drop test results N2 - The safety assessment of new designs for transport and storage casks for radioactive materials is a challenging task accomplished using different methods such as prototype tests, model tests, calculations and analogy reflections. At BAM (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing), the test procedures for the mechanical IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) test conditions often start with preliminary finite element (FE) calculations mostly with a small-scale cask model for verification of the proposed test cask instrumentation and test plan. On that basis the extensive test cask instrumentation is applied and checked. After that, a series of drop tests consisting of different test sequences is performed. Following the drop tests, numerical post-analyses are carried out. These analyses offer the possibility of a detailed calculation and assessment of stresses and strains in the entire test cask construction. The calculation results have to be carefully compared with the measurement data over the impact history to find out all relevant parameters for a realistic simulation of the impact scenario. The desired ideal boundary test conditions often cannot be met exactly during the drop tests. Therefore, the numerical post-analyses are carried out by using the real boundary conditions of the drop tests. The objective is to find a validated model, where the results of the numerical simulations satisfactorily meet the experimental results. Under test conditions according to the IAEA transport regulations, casks are usually equipped with impact limiters and dropped onto a so-called unyielding target. In general, it is difficult to verify a complex FE model by using results from only one drop test because of the complex impact process and the complex structure of such packages. After each drop test, numerical post-analyses should be carried out. Only if all drop tests were simulated successfully by using the same FE model under different test conditions, it is possible to obtain a validated numerical model for further investigations. In this case the results of the numerical simulations meet satisfactorily the experimental results. In this paper a study is presented, where the influence of different components on the cask loading is investigated systematically. T2 - 11th International conference on computational structures technology CY - Dubrovnik, Croatia DA - 04.09.2012 KW - Impact KW - Simulation KW - Cask KW - Dop test KW - Finite element model KW - Validation KW - Dynamics KW - Transport and storage cask PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.4203/ccp.99.273 SN - 1759-3433 IS - Paper 273 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Civil Comp Press AN - OPUS4-26537 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Qiao, Linan A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Musolff, André T1 - Numerical simulation of 9 meter drop of a transport and storage cask with aluminium impact limiter N2 - For the purpose of numerical simulation of 9 meter drop of a transport and storage cask with aluminium impact limiter, an elastic-incremental plastic material model with strain rate hardening acc. to Cowper-Symonds is used for the development of isothermal as well as adiabatic stress-strain relations of aluminium from the compression test at constant ambient temperature. After that, two different simulation strategies are compared. At first, the drop test is calculated fully coupled, i.e. with isothermal stress-strain relations and possible heat generation in the material. Then the drop test is recalculated in a very simplified manner with adiabatic stress-strain relations from the compression test in an isothermal simulation. Both calculation strategies show similar results in the investigated load scenario. T2 - PATRAM 2010 - 16th International symposium on the packaging and transport of radioactive materials CY - London, UK DA - 2010-10-03 KW - Drop test KW - Spent fuel transport cask KW - Finite element calculation KW - Dynamic simulation KW - Impact limiter KW - Aluminium PY - 2010 SP - 1-8 (Monday-T16-117) AN - OPUS4-23707 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Musolff, Andre A1 - Werner, Jan A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Enhancement of the BAM Fire Test Stand for Testing a Large Transport Package for Radioactive Materials N2 - Packages for the transport of spent nuclear fuel are designed to endure severe accidents. To obtain approval, these transport packages must adhere to the specification-based criteria of the international transport regulations SSR-6 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To ensure compliance with these requirements, specific mechanical and thermal tests need to be addressed with respect to the package type. Typically, SSR-6 prescribes a mechanical test followed by a thermal fire test as part of different testing scenarios. To approve the latter test of the sequence, BAM performs calorimeter tests in advance with so-called fire reference packages for characterizing the actual fire and its impact on the package to be tested. Packages are designed with different geometry sizes depending on their purpose. For previous tests, the implemented test setups in the fire test stand were sufficiently dimensioned and could cover all requirements in this respect. However, to cover additional testing needs in the future, BAM is expanding the test setup for the purpose of testing significantly larger packages. In previous test setups one ring burner for propane surrounding the test specimen was sufficient. The limiting size in this configuration was the design height of the transport package to be tested. According to the thermal test of the IAEA-Regulations [1], a 30-minute fully engulfing 800°C pool fire or an equally severe fire, e.g., propane gas fire, must be applied to the transport package. Possible adjustments such as nozzle cross-section and propane mass flow can be adjusted to a certain extent. Further modifications, to cover significantly higher and larger packages all-around with a fully engulfing fire, must be accomplished with an additional, second burner ring. Both burner rings had the same dimensions and were mounted on top of each other at different heights to create a significantly larger volume of fire that completely engulfs the package including its impact limiter. To meet the IAEA regulatory boundary conditions, the enhanced fire test stand with the second burner ring is tested with a large fire reference package and will then be used for real-size transport packages after all parameters are successfully met. This fire reference package represents the external geometry of a generic transport cask for radioactive material and is equipped with numerous temperature sensors to record temperature curves at the interior wall surfaces. T2 - RAMTrans 2024 CY - London, United Kingdom DA - 14.05.2024 KW - Fire testing KW - Full-scale KW - Transport package PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 7 AN - OPUS4-60253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Musolff, Andre A1 - Werner, Jan A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - A fire test stand for thermal testing of extra-large packages N2 - Packages for the transport of high-level radioactive materials are designed to withstand severe accidents. These packages must adhere to the specification-based criteria of the International Transport Regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To ensure compliance with these requirements, specific mechanical and thermal tests need to be addressed with respect to the package type. Typically, the Regulations prescribe mechanical tests followed by a thermal test as part of a cumulative test scenario. The thermal test is specified by the exposure of a test specimen for a period of 30 minutes to a thermal invironment that provides a heat flux equivalent to that of a hydrocarbon fuel-air fire with an average fire temperature of at least 800 °C fully flame engulfing the test specimen. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) operates various test facilities for this purpose at their test site (TTS) near Berlin in Germany. Thermal tests for large packages are carried out in an established fire test stand that can be adapted by the test-setup to the geometric boundary conditions of a test specimen. This fire test stand is built for test specimens with masses up to 200,000 kg and geometric dimensions relating to large transport packages including their impact limiters. The test specimen is usually placed on a water-cooled support frame in the middle of the test-stand. The fire is realized by burning propane gas which is released in liquid state from an array of gas nozzles arranged in the form of a burner ring surrounding the test specimen. For particularly extra-large test specimens, two burner rings are used on top of each other and at different heights in order to firstly achieve full fire engulfment with a significantly larger volume of fire and secondly to achieve the required heat output. In advance of a regular thermal test BAM usually performs so-called fire reference tests to determine the test conditions for compliance with the IAEA requirements. These tests are performed using a generic package which corresponds to the external geometric dimensions of the test specimen used later in the approval test. Then, this reference package is exposed to a fire under defined test parameters whereas the corresponding heat input determined from the temperature changes measured is regarded as main criterion for proofing compliance with the IAEA criteria.The paper shows the experimental proof of the suitability of BAM’s fire test stand for thermal testing of extra-large packages. The heat input and fire temperatures fully meet the IAEA criteria but can also be set significantly higher for e.g. extra-regulatory testing. T2 - ASME PVP 2025 CY - Montreal, Quebec, Kanada DA - 20.07.2025 KW - Test stand KW - Thermal testing KW - Package KW - Fire PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-63892 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Feldkamp, Martin A1 - Gleim, Tobias A1 - Musolff, André A1 - Werner, Jan A1 - Wille, Frank T1 - Fire Test Stand for Thermal Testing of Large Packages for the Transport of Radioactive Materials N2 - Packages for the transport of high level radioactive materials are designed to withstand severe accidents. These packages must comply with the specific safety requirements SSR 6 [ of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). To guarantee compliance with these requirements, specific mechanical and thermal tests need to be addressed r egard ing the package type. Typically, the r egulations prescribe mechanical tests followed by a thermal test as part of a cumulative test scenario. The thermal test is specified by the exposure of a test specimen for a period of 30 minutes to a thermal environment that provides a heat flux equivalent to that of a hydrocarbon fuel air fire with an av erage fire temperature of at least 800 °C fully flame engulfing the test specimen. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) operates various test facilities for this purpose at their Test Site for Technical Safety (near Berlin in Germany). Thermal tests for large packages are conducted in an established fire test stand that may be adapted by the test setup to the geometric boundary conditions of a test specimen. This fire test stand is built for test specimens with masses up to 200,000 kg an d geometric dimensions relating to large transport packages including their impact limiters. The test specimen is usually placed on a water cooled support frame in the middle of the test stand. The fire is realized by burning propane gas which is released in liquid state from an array of gas nozzles arranged in the form of a burner ring surrounding the test specimen. For particularly extra large test specimens, two burner rings are used on top of each other and at different heights to firstly achieve full f ire engulfment with a significantly larger volume of fire and secondly to achieve the required heat output , cf. In advance of a regular thermal test BAM usually performs so called fire reference tests to determine the test conditions for compliance with the IAEA requirements. These tests are performed using a generic package which corresponds to the external geometr ic dimensions of the test specimen used later in the approval test. Then, this reference package is exposed to a fire under defined test parameters whereas the corresponding heat input determined from the temperature changes measured is regarded as main cr iterion for proofing compliance with the IAEA criteria. The paper shows the experimental proof of the suitability of BAM’s fire test stand for thermal testing of extra large packages. The heat input and fire temperatures fully meet the IAEA criteria and can also be set significantly higher for example for extra regulatory testing. T2 - PATRAM 2025 CY - San Antonio, TX, USA DA - 27.07.2025 KW - IAEA Regu-lations KW - Fire Test Stand KW - Accident Scenario KW - Fire Qualification PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 10 CY - Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) AN - OPUS4-63872 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Musolff, André A1 - Müller, Karsten T1 - Instrumented measurements on radioactive waste disposal containers during experimental drop testing N2 - In context with disposal container safety assessment of containers for radioactive waste the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) performed numerous drop tests in the last years. The tests were accompanied by extensive and various measurement techniques especially by instrumented measurements with strain gages and accelerometers. The instrumentation of a specimen is an important tool to evaluate its mechanical behavior during impact. Test results as deceleration-time and strain-time functions constitute a main basis for the validation of assumptions in the safety analysis and for the evaluation of calculations based on finite-element methods. Strain gauges are useful to determine the time dependent magnitude of any deformation and the associated stresses. Accelerometers are widely used for the measuring of motion i.e. speed or the displacement of the rigid cask body, vibration and shock events. In addition high-speed video technique can be used to visualize and analyze the kinematical impact scenario by motion analysis. The paper describes some selected aspects on instrumented measurements and motion analysis in context with low level radioactive waste (LLW) container drop testing T2 - ICEM 2011 - 14th International Conference on environmental remediation and radioactive waste management CY - Reims, France DA - 25.09.2011 KW - Drop test KW - Radioactive KW - Disposal container KW - Instrumented measurements PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1115/ICEM2011-59142 SP - 929 EP - 938 AN - OPUS4-27044 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Müller, Karsten A1 - Musolff, Andre A1 - Nakagami, M. A1 - Komatsuki, S. A1 - Tamaki, H. A1 - Kishimoto, J. A1 - Fujisawa, K. A1 - Nishio, T. ED - Quercetti, Thomas T1 - Experimental testing of RAM packages within Japanese German projects N2 - In context with Japanese disposal and transport container safety assessment the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) per-formed extensive drop test series with prototypes of RAM packages in recent years. The paper presents two cooperative projects focused on project management, testing performance and experimental results. In the first project, a full-scale prototype of a package for transport and storage of spent fuel elements with a total mass of 127,000 kg and its reduced-scale model which was similar to the prototype in both geometry and design were drop tested in 9 m and 1 m puncture tests at various drop orientations under regulatory conditions. In context with a corresponding research project the test data was used in combination with numerical methods to investigate the phenomenon of internal cask- content collisions during drop tests. Here, technological gaps between basket or radioactive content and cask body or primary lid can be a reason for significant high dynamic loadings of cask components and its internals due to additional impact interactions in the cask cavity caused by inner relative movement between content and cask. Further investigations were carried out in the field of similarity mechanics comparing experimental drop test data of the full-scale prototype and reduced-scale model in regard to the transferability of package impact response from reduced-scale models to full-scale packages. In the second project, drop tests with a waste container for intermediate depth disposal were per-formed being contracted by Kobe Steel, Ltd. and a consortium of Japanese electric power plant com-panies. The drop test program comprised three single 8-m drop tests in a specimen’s corner edge orientation. For drop tests according to legal regulations for interim storage or final disposal it is often necessary to use a target which represents the real ground of the storage facility. In such cases the container hits directly onto a well-defined concrete slab on top of the IAEA target. Here, the directly impact target for the drop tests were concrete slabs manufactured in Japan and connected by mortar to the impact pad of the unyielding IAEA target. KW - Drop testing KW - Package PY - 2016 SP - Paper 1043, 1 EP - 13 CY - Kobe, Japan AN - OPUS4-37557 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Quercetti, Thomas A1 - Nakagami, M. A1 - Komatsuki, S. A1 - Musolff, André A1 - Müller, Karsten A1 - Droste, Bernhard A1 - Fujisawa, K. T1 - Disposal container safety assessment - drop tests with 'Yoyushindo-disposal' waste container onto concrete target N2 - This paper presents technical details of the drop test performance as well as some experimental results of tests carried out with the Japanese 'Yoyushindo-Disposal' waste container for intermediate depth disposal. The drop test program comprised three single 8 m drop tests at the specimen's corner edge orientation onto a concrete slab. The slab was connected to the unyielding IAEA target of the BAM's 200 t drop test facility. The three tested specimens had masses between 20 000 and 28 000 kg depending on their content mass. The tests were accompanied by various metrology, such as strain and deceleration measurements, optical three-dimensional deformation methods, leak tightness testing and test installation for potential particle release measurements to collect a set of data for establishing a basis for safety assessment. KW - Drop test KW - Disposal container KW - Safety PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1179/174650910X12681251630291 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 21 IS - 3 SP - 132 EP - 141 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-22613 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Ballheimer, Viktor A1 - Musolff, André T1 - Numerische Analyse der 1-m-Fallprüfung auf einen Stahldorn T2 - Jahrestagung Kerntechnik 2010 CY - Berlin, Deutschland DA - 2010-05-04 KW - IAEO KW - 1-m-Fallprüfung KW - Stahldorn KW - Numerische Analyse KW - Verifizierung PY - 2010 IS - Sektion 5 / 505 SP - 1 EP - 5 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-21292 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Ballheimer, Viktor A1 - Musolff, André T1 - From experiment to an appropriate finite element model-safety assessment for ductile cast iron casks demonstrated by means of IAEA puncture drop test N2 - In the approval procedure of transport packages for radioactive materials, the competent authority mechanical and thermal safety assessment is carried out in Germany by BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing. The combination of experimental investigations and numerical calculations in conjunction with materials and components testing is the basis of the safety assessment concept of the BAM. Among other mechanical test scenarios a 1 meter drop test onto a steel bar has to be considered for hypothetical accident conditions of Type B packages according to IAEA regulations. Within the approval procedure for the new German package design of the HLW cask CASTOR® HAW 28M, designed by GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service Germany, a puncture drop test was performed with a half-scale model of the cask at -40°C. For independent assessment and to control the safety analysis presented by applicant, BAM developed a complex finite element model for a dynamical ABAQUS/ExplicitTM analysis. This paper describes in detail the use of the finite element (FE) method for modeling the puncture drop test within an actual assessment strategy. At first investigations of the behaviour of the steel bar are carried out. Different friction coefficients and the material law of the bar are analysed by using a 'rigid-body' approximation for the cask body. In the next step a more detailed FE model with a more realistic material definition for the cask body is developed. Strain verification is possible by results of the strain gauges located at the relevant points of the cask model. The influence of the finite element meshing is described. Finally, the verified FE half-scale model is expanded to full-scale dimension. Scaling effects are analysed. The model is used for safety assessment of the package to be approved. T2 - PATRAM 2010 - 16th International symposium on the packaging and transport of radioactive materials CY - London, UK DA - 2010-10-03 KW - IAEA KW - Puncture drop test KW - Numerical analysis KW - Verification PY - 2010 SP - 1-8 (Tuesday/T19/26-115) AN - OPUS4-23928 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Wille, Frank A1 - Ballheimer, Viktor A1 - Musolff, André T1 - From experiment to appropriate finite element model-safety assessment for ductile cast iron casks demonstrated by means of IAEA puncture drop test N2 - In the approval procedure of transport packages for radioactive materials, the competent authority mechanical and thermal safety assessment is carried out in Germany by BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing. The combination of experimental investigations and numerical calculations in conjunction with materials and components testing is the basis of the safety assessment concept of the BAM. Among other mechanical test scenarios, a 1 metre drop test onto a steel bar has to be considered for the application of the hypothetical accident conditions to Type B packages according to IAEA regulations. Within the approval procedure for the new German package design of the HLW cask CASTOR® HAW 28M, designed by GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service Germany, a puncture drop test was performed with a half-scale model of the cask at -40°C. For independent assessment and to control the safety analysis presented by the applicant, BAM developed a complex finite element (FE) model for a dynamical ABAQUS/ExplicitTM analysis. This paper describes in detail the use of the FE method for modelling the puncture drop test within an actual assessment strategy. At first, investigations of the behaviour of the steel bar were carried out. Different friction coefficients and the material law of the bar were analysed by using a 'rigid-body' approximation for the cask body. In the next step, a more detailed FE model with a more realistic material definition for the cask body was developed. The validation of calculated strains was carried out by comparison with the results of the strain gauges located at the relevant points of the cask model. The influence of the FE meshing is described. Finally, the validated FE half-scale model was expanded to full-scale dimension. Scaling effects were analysed. The model was used for safety assessment of the package to be approved. KW - IAEA puncture drop test KW - Cylindrical cask KW - Explicit dynamics KW - Scaled model KW - Numerical analysis KW - Validation KW - Safety assessment PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1179/1746510911Y.0000000010 SN - 1746-5095 SN - 1746-5109 SN - 0957-476X VL - 22 IS - 3 SP - 148 EP - 153 PB - Ramtrans Publ. CY - Ashford AN - OPUS4-25356 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -