TY - CONF A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Stark, Wolfgang T1 - Investigating the performance of rubber seals at low temperatures N2 - Rubbers are widely used as main sealing materials for Containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste and as additional component to metal seals in spent fuel and high active waste containers. The save enclosure of the radioactive container inventory has to be guaranteed according to legislation and appropriate guidelines for long term storage periods as well as down to temperatures of -40 °C for transportation. Therefore the understanding of failure mechanisms that lead to leakage at low temperatures is necessary to ensure a proper material choice which is certainly also influenced by additional factors as e.g. the aging behavior. T2 - 14th International high-level radioactive waste management conference CY - Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA DA - 28.04.2013 KW - Rubber seals KW - Elastomers KW - Compression set KW - Low temperature KW - Leakage rate PY - 2013 SN - 978-1-62748-644-6 SP - 1 EP - 7(Paper # 6888) PB - Omnipress AN - OPUS4-28530 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Zaghdoudi, Maha A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - A numerical approach to correlate compression stress relaxation and compression set of elastomer O-rings with tightness N2 - The excellent mechanical properties of elastomer seals at a wide range of temperatures as well as their high versatility and recovery potential under several load conditions make these materials well suitable for the application in containers designed for transport and disposal of negligible heat generating radioactive waste. While a seal exchange at defined intervals is typical in many conventional applications, it is impossible or at least hard to perform when principles of minimization of radiation exposure have to be considered which prohibit an avoidable cask handling. An extensive knowledge of the change of the elastomer properties during aging and the availability of reliable end-of-lifetime criteria to guarantee the safe enclosure of the radioactive material for the required time are mandatory. As BAM is involved in most of the national cask licensing procedures and in the evaluation of cask-related long-term safety issues, great efforts have already been made and are still ongoing to scientifically support this task. Among other representative types of elastomers, specimen made from ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) were tested before, during and after aging to capture the with respect to application most important of their complex mechanical properties. Exemplary results of these investigations were used to calibrate material models implemented in the commercial finite element software ABAQUS/Standard®. The finite element model already presented in previous works uses a sequential temperature displacement coupling. The calculated compression stress relaxation (CSR) and compression set (CS) values do satisfactorily match the experimental results. In many investigations performed at BAM both values (CSR and CS) were identified as key indicators of elastomer’s long-term performance. However, the possibility to correlate these equivalent indicators with performance values such as tightness and leakage rate, measurable in the mounted state, is an important goal of our future work. In the presented study the ABAQUS® feature of “pressure penetration” is introduced in the suggested finite element model for this purpose. It provides the possibility to simulate the penetration of a gas into a possible gap between flange and O-ring causing an opening of a leakage path. Three dimensional and axis-symmetric finite element models were generated to represent flat and grooved flanges of different dimensions. The sensitivity of the feature to several input parameters is investigated and the observed behavior of the O-ring is correlated with the results of performed leakage tests. T2 - ASME 2021 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference (PVP2021) CY - Online meeting DA - 13.07.2021 KW - Elastomer KW - Tightness KW - Leakage KW - Compression set KW - Compression stress relaxation PY - 2021 SN - 978-0-7918-8535-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2021-61976 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) CY - New York, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-54422 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - An approach to improve the understanding of elastomeric seals in use in storage containers N2 - Elastomers are widely used as main sealing materials in Containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste and as additional component to metal seals in spent fuel and high active waste Containers. They are applied due to their special material properties and easy use [1]. For this application several challenging prerequisites must be met for the essential reliable Operation of the seal. T2 - 45th Annual meeting on nuclear technology CY - Frankfurt, Germany DA - 06.05.2014 PY - 2014 SN - 978-3-926956-99-6 SP - 1 EP - 4 AN - OPUS4-31250 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Nagelschmidt, Sven T1 - Understanding the long-term behavior of sealing systems and neutron shielding material for extended dry cask storage N2 - In Germany, the concept of dry interim storage in dual purpose metal casks before disposal is being pursued for spent nuclear fuel (SF) and high active waste (HAW) management. However, since there is no repository available today, the initially planned and established dry interim storage license duration of up to 40 years will be too short and its extension will become necessary. For such a storage license extension it is required to assess the long-term performance of SF and all safety related storage system components in order to confirm the viability of extended storage. The main safety relevant components are the thick-walled dual purpose metal casks. These casks consist of a monolithic cask body with integrated neutron shielding components (polymers, e.g. polyethylene) and a monitored double lid barrier system with metal and elastomeric seals. The metal seals of this bolted closure system guarantee the required leak-tightness whereas the elastomeric seals allow for leakage rate measurement of the metal seals. This paper presents an update on running long-term tests on metal seals at different temperatures under static conditions over longer periods of time. In addition, first results of our approach to understand the aging behavior of different elastomeric seals and neutron radiation shielding material polyethylene are discussed. T2 - PSAM 12 - Probabilistic safety assessment and management CY - Honolulu, Hawaii, USA DA - 22.06.2014 KW - Extended storage KW - Dual purpose casks KW - Metal seals KW - Elastomeric seals KW - Neutron shielding material PY - 2014 SP - 1 EP - 9 AN - OPUS4-32072 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Beckmann, Jörg A1 - Schade, U. A1 - von der Ehe, Kerstin A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Aziz, E. F. T1 - THz and Mid IR Fourier transform spectroscopy on polyethylene irradiated with Gamma- Co60 radiation N2 - THz and mid IR spectroscopy of high molecular PE (HMW) and ultra high molecular PE (UHMW) reveals modifications of the molecular structure induced by γ-Co60 radiation. UHMW-PE and HMW-PE can be distinguished. The integral absorption in the B1u THz-region can quantitatively describe the amorphization of crystallinity. The formation of trans vinylene unsaturations and the decay of vinyl can be followed by mid IR spectroscopy T2 - IRMMW-THz 2014 - 39th International conference on infrared, millimeter, and terahertz waves CY - Tucson, Arizona, USA DA - 14.09.2014 KW - Thz and Mid IR Fourier transform spectroscopy KW - Polyethylene KW - Gamma-Co-60 radiation KW - Fourier transform spectroscopy KW - Infrared spectroscopy KW - Light absorption KW - Molecular electronic states KW - Polymers KW - MidIR Fourier transform spectroscopy KW - Terahertz spectroscopy KW - THz spectroscopy KW - γ-Co60radiation KW - HMW KW - High molecular PE KW - Ultrahigh molecular PE KW - Molecular structure modifications KW - UHMW-PE KW - HMW-PE KW - Integral absorption KW - B1uTHz-region KW - Crystallinity amorphization KW - Transvinylene unsaturation formation KW - Vinyl decay KW - Absorption KW - Radiation effects KW - Temperature measurement KW - Spectroscopy PY - 2014 UR - http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6956355&isnumber=6955975 SN - 978-1-4799-3877-3 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IRMMW-THz.2014.6956355 IS - IEEE Catalog No.: CFP14IMM-ART SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-32699 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zaghdoudi, Maha A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Numerical Modelling of Compression Stress Relaxation and Compression Set of Elastomer O-Ring During Aging N2 - Elastomer seals are used in many industrial applications due to their excellent mechanical properties at a wide range of temperatures. Their high versatility and recovery potential under several load conditions make them well suitable for the application in containers designed for transport, storage and/or disposal of radioactive materials. In containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste, elastomer seals are used as barrier seals, and as auxiliary seals in storage and transportation casks (dual purpose casks) for heat generating radioactive waste, such as spent fuel and high-level waste. While a seal exchange at defined intervals is typical in many conventional applications, it is impossible or at least hard to perform when principles of minimization of radiation exposure have to be considered and prohibit an unnecessary cask handling. An extensive knowledge of the change of the elastomer’s properties during aging and the availability of reliable end-of-lifetime criteria to guarantee the permanent safe enclosure of the radioactive material is mandatory. As BAM is involved in most of the national cask licensing procedures and in the evaluation of cask-related long-term safety issues, great efforts have been already made and are still planned to scientifically support this task. Compression stress relaxation and compression set were identified as key indicators of elastomer long-term performance and quantitatively investigated in comprehensive test programs. Among other representative types of elastomers, specimens made from ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) were tested before, during and after aging to capture the most important of their complex mechanical properties. In the presented study, exemplary results were used to simulate the compression stress relaxation and the compression set of elastomer O-rings during aging. Regarding the influence of temperature, the time-temperature superposition principle is applied in the relaxation analysis of elastomer O-rings. The proposed model is implemented in the commercial finite element software ABAQUS/Standard® [1] with a sequential temperature displacement coupling. Numerical results match the experimental compression stress relaxation measurements well. The prediction of compression set values after long-term aging shows a relatively good agreement with the experimental results. Nevertheless, all input parameters derived from the specimen tests, additional assumptions concerning boundary conditions and modeling strategy are discussed with regard to the identified slight discrepancies. The possibility to extend the finite element model to represent the O-ring seal’s ability to recover after a (fast) partial release is taken into account. T2 - ASME 2020 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference (PVP2020) CY - Online meeting DA - 03.08.2020 KW - Compression Set KW - O-ring KW - Simulation KW - Sequential analysis KW - Ageing KW - stress relaxation PY - 2020 SN - 978-0-7918-8388-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2020-21270 SP - PVP2020-21270 PB - ASME AN - OPUS4-51490 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Arfi, W. A1 - Khan, A. A1 - Moulai, F. A1 - Agroui, K. A1 - Baretta, C. A1 - Oreski, G. A1 - Jaunich, Matthias ED - Munday, J. ED - Bermel, P. ED - Kempe, M. T1 - Optical and thermal analysis of PVB encapsulant polymer functionalized with luminescent organic dyes N2 - This work focused on the technology of luminescent down shift (LDS), with a primary aim to identify and investigate a methodology to introduce the luminescent organic dye into PVB polymer encapsulant as emergent material for photovoltaic application. For this goal, we propose to study the feasibility to implement the LDS functionality and to identify suitability of available luminescent to be incorporated into the host polymer encapsulant material. The first step to this direction was through a comprehensive optical study of Violet 570 (V) organic dye in ethanol solvent. The methodology and experimental conditions such as laboratory polymer preparation and luminescence dye concentration were presented. Also, the emergent polymer encapsulant sheets were characterized by using optical and thermal analysis techniques. The absorption spectrum of the prepared PVB material shifts towards longer wavelengths, with increasing organic dye concentration. T2 - New Concepts in Solar and Thermal Radiation Conversion and Reliability CY - San Diego, California, United States DA - 19.08.2018 KW - Photovoltaic KW - Encapsulation KW - Luminescence PY - 2018 SN - 9781510620902 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2318428 SN - 1996-756X SP - Paper OH, 1 PB - SPIE CY - Bellingham, Washington, USA AN - OPUS4-47165 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grelle, Tobias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Völzke, Holger T1 - Investigation of the time and temperature dependent behavior of metal seals in radioactive waste containers N2 - The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –Prüfung (BAM) runs an investigation program on the long-term behavior of multi-component metal seals. Such seals are used in a wide area of applications including transport and storage casks for spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste. The seal function is mainly based on the compression of the inner helical spring, which generates the necessary seal force to keep the sealing surfaces in close contact. This in turn leads to a plastic deformation of the outer jacket of the seal, comprised of highly ductile aluminum or silver that adapts to the sealing surfaces of cask body and bolted lid, thus providing high Level leak tightness. In Germany, those casks are licensed for Interim storage periods of up to 40 years or more if extended Interim storage would become necessary before a final repository is available. Thus, the sealing performance has to be evaluated, including factors like elevated temperature due to decay heat or mechanical loads due to transport under normal as well as accident conditions. Long-term investigations at BAM have been running over the last nine years to identify and evaluate the seal performance by measuring the remaining seal force, the useable resilience and the leakage rate after various time intervals at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 150 °C. It was found that the seal force and useable resilience decrease with time and temperature, caused by creep deformation of the outer jacket. In order to obtain an analytical description for the seal behavior and to achieve more information on the material behavior under application conditions a comprehensive investigation program with Focus on aluminum as outer jacket material was launched. The program includes material investigations such as compression and tension creep tests with representative basic materials. An additional test setup allows for the continuous measurement of the remaining seal force at temperatures of up to 150 °C. Furthermore, seal segments are compressed and stored in heating chambers, thus producing segments at different stages of the aging process. The segments are investigated regarding the development of the contact area width, jacket thickness and microstructural changes. This data will be used to develop material models and an analytical description of the time and temperature dependent long-term sealing behavior. This paper explains the current status of gained test results and modelling approaches and closes with an outlook to the future Project plans. T2 - ASME 2018 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 15.07.2018 KW - Metal seal KW - Creep KW - Long-term behavior PY - 2018 SP - PVP2018-84584, 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-46110 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Völzke, Holger A1 - Schulze, Dietmar A1 - Probst, Ulrich T1 - Testing and Numerical Simulation of Elastomers - From Specimen Tests to Simulation of Seal Behavior under Assembly Conditions N2 - Due to delays in the siting procedure to establish a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste as well as in construction of the already licensed Konrad repository for low and intermediate level radioactive waste, extended periods of interim storage become more relevant in Germany. BAM is involved in most of the cask licensing procedures and especially responsible for the evaluation of cask-related long-term safety issues. The long-term performance of elastomer seals for lid systems of transport and storage casks, whether used as auxiliary seals in spent fuel casks or as primary seals for low and intermediate level waste packages, is an important issue in this context. The polymeric structure of these seals causes a complex mechanical behavior with time-dependent sealing force reduction. The results of a comprehensive purpose-designed test program consisting of basic compression and tension tests as well as relaxation tests on unaged specimens of representative types of elastomers (fluorocarbon rubber (FKM) and ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM)) at different temperatures and strain rates are presented. They were used to identify the constitutive behavior and to obtain parameters for finite element material models provided by the computer code ABAQUS®. After estimating the influence of uncertainties such as Poisson’s ratio and friction coefficient by sensitivity analyses, the chosen parameters had to prove their suitability for the finite element simulation of the specimen tests themselves. Based on this preliminary work the simulation of a specific laboratory test configuration containing a typical elastomer seal with circular cross section is presented. The chosen finite element material model and the implemented parameters had to show that they are able to represent not only the specimen behavior under predominantly uniaxial load but also the more complex stress states in real components. Deviations between the measured and calculated results are pointed out and discussed. For the consideration of long-term effects in the simulation of elastomer behavior, test results of aged specimens are needed. First information about a new test program, started recently and planned to provide these data, are given. T2 - ASME 2017 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference (PVP2017) CY - Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA DA - 16.07.2017 KW - Time dependent effects KW - Low temperature behavior KW - Elastomeric seals KW - Aging KW - Simulation KW - Testing PY - 2017 SN - 978-0-7918-5802-8 VL - 7 SP - Article UNSP V007T07A035, 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-41841 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Horn, Jutta A1 - Völzke, Holger A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Long-Term Performance of Elastomer seals - From Aging Tests to Lifetime Estimations N2 - Elastomers show a high versatility which makes them ideal materials for sealing applications in various fields. Especially under changing application conditions the high recovery potential of this class of material is beneficial to compensate temperature or pressure fluctuation, and geometrical changes resulting from mechanical loads in e.g. accident conditions. Out of these reasons elastomers are also used in containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste and for spent fuel transportation casks. In casks designed for low and intermediate level waste elastomer seals can act as primary seal responsible for the containment function whereas in spent fuel storage and transportation casks (dual purpose casks (DPC)) elastomer seals are used as auxiliary seals to allow leakage rate measurements of metal barrier seals. An inherent prerequisite for this kind of application is the Long time-scale of operation without or with limited possibility of seal replacement. In Germany an interim storage license for DPC`s is typically issued for 40 years, a timeframe which might increase in the future due to challenges of the final repository siting procedure. For low and intermediate level waste, also long time periods are required before final disposal can be achieved. Therefore, the performance of elastomer seals over extended time periods is, as for other applications, of high importance. A typical approach to ensure long-term functionality is to perform accelerated aging tests to calculate an estimated lifetime by assuming e.g. Arrhenius like equations for the timetemperature relationship. This approach requires a suitable end of life criterion considering the application of interest. This often can represent a challenge on its own. As BAM is involved in most of the cask licensing procedures and especially responsible for the evaluation of cask-related long-term safety issues we initiated several test programs for investigating the behavior of elastomer seals. Experiments concerning the low temperature performance down to -40 °C and the influence of gamma irradiation have been started first. Currently the thermal aging behavior of elastomer seals, which is the topic of this contribution, is examined. For our aging investigations we use a broad approach to first determine the property changes in different elastomer materials due to thermo-oxidative aging at elevated temperatures and secondly, we test how the typical methods of lifetime extrapolation can be applied to these results. This Approach enables us to detect and exclude undesired side effects which very often influence lifetime estimations. In this contribution, our recent results are extended. The results show that lifetime estimation based on single material properties can be misleading and therefore a combination of several methods is recommended. T2 - ASME 2018 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 15.07.2018 KW - Seal performance KW - Rubber KW - Ageing PY - 2018 VL - PVP2018 SP - 84631-1 EP - 84631-8 AN - OPUS4-46346 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Weber, Mike A1 - Kömmling, Anja A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Zencker, Uwe A1 - Völzke, Holger A1 - Schulze, Dietmar T1 - Testing and numerical simulation of elastomeric seals under consideration of time dependent effects N2 - Due to delays in the siting procedure to establish a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high level waste and in construction of the already licensed Konrad repository for low and intermediate level waste, extended periods of interim storage will become more relevant in Germany. BAM is involved in most of the cask licensing procedures and is responsible for the evaluation of cask-related long-term safety issues. Elastomeric seals are widely used as barrier seals for containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste. In addition they are also used as auxiliary seals in spent fuel storage and transportation casks (dual purpose casks (DPC)). To address the complex requirements resulting from the described applications, BAM has initiated several test programs for investigating the behavior of elastomeric seals. These include experiments concerning the hyperelastic and viscoelastic behavior at different temperatures and strain rates, the low temperature performance down to -40°C, the influence of gamma irradiation and the aging behavior. The first part of the paper gives an overview of these tests, their relevant results and their possible impact on BAM’s work as a consultant in the framework of approval and licensing procedures. The second part presents an approach of the development of a finite element model using the finite element code ABAQUS®. The long-term goal is to simulate the complex elastomeric behavior in a complete lid closure system under specific operation and accident conditions. T2 - ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference (PVP2016) CY - Vancouver, BC, Canada DA - 17.07.2016 KW - Elastomeric seals KW - Testing KW - Low temperature behavior KW - Aging KW - Simulation KW - Time dependent effects PY - 2016 SN - 978-0-7918-5045-9 VL - 7 SP - Paper 63192, 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-37046 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -