TY - CONF A1 - Grelle, Tobias A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Skrotzki, Birgit A1 - Wolff, Dietmar T1 - Creep investigations on aluminum seals for application in radioactive waste containers N2 - In Germany spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste is stored in interim storage containers with double lid systems. Those lids are equipped with metal seals (e.g. Helicoflex®) that ensure the safe enclosure of the inventory. The used metal seals consist of three components as can be seen in the cross-sectional view in Figure 1. The innermost part is a helical spring that is surrounded by an inner jacket made of stainless steel. The outer jacket that is made of a softer material which in case of assembly in the aforementioned storage containers is silver or aluminum (i.e. Al 99.5). During application the seal is compressed and due to the restoring force of the helical spring, the outer jacket is plastically deformed and adapts to the sealing surface. Hence, leakage paths are closed and the sealing function is generated. In Germany the above-mentioned containers are licensed for up to 40 years of interim storage, which in case extended storage becomes necessary before a final repository is available will have to be extended to even longer periods. Therefore, the evaluation of the long-term behavior of the seals is necessary, taking into account storage conditions, decay heat and possible mechanical loads as well. At Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) long-term investigations are being conducted in which seals are assembled in test flanges and aged at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150°C for accelerated aging. The aged seals are tested semi-annually (after the first 6 months in which the seals are tested more frequently) regarding the sealing performance, the remaining seal force, and the useable resilience upon decompression. Results of these investigations have been published over the past years (e.g. Grelle, Wolff, Probst, Jaunich, & Völzke, 2017; Völzke, Wolff, Probst, Nagelschmidt, & Schulz, 2014). It was found that the seal force and the useable resilience decrease with time and temperature, which is in agreement with the result of other studies (Sassoulas et al., 2006; Wataru et al., 2016) as well. Geometry change of the outer jacket has been identified as the main reason for this seal behavior. At the prevailing operating temperatures and stresses the aluminum is subjected to creep deformation leading to a thinning of the outer jacket. Since the seal groove depth remains unchanged the helical spring expands, which in turn leads to a decrease of the generated spring and seal force. Although the main reason for the change of seal parameters over time and temperature is known, a detailed characterization of the seal behavior and a reliable prediction of the parameter development for aging times that exceed the experimental time frame have not been possible, yet. For deeper understanding of the aging processes, an Investigation program, which is covered in this contribution, is conducted at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) that focusses on the behavior of the aluminum jacket and its influence on the long-term sealing performance. The program investigates properties of material samples as well as the behavior of the seal as a component. Original sheet material of the same aluminum that is used for manufacturing of the seals is investigated in compression creep tests. For this, a DMA (dynamic mechanical analysis) machine is employed (here used for static tests) that allows for a measurement of the specimens deformation under forces of up to 500 N. The advantage of this method is that the original material can be tested in the same shape as used for the seals which is 0.5 mm thick sheet material. For investigation of tensile creep standard specimens are used, that were machined from surrogate material of the same composition and annealing condition. Furthermore, aluminum seals that are cut into smaller segments are assembled in flanges and placed in heating chambers at temperatures ranging from 23°C to 150°C. After different periods of time from 3 days to 300 days the segments are taken out of the flanges and are investigated, thus giving information on different states of aging. Measurements of the development of the seal contact width and the aluminum jacket thickness are done with an optical microscope. Further investigations on the segments will include metallography and hardness measurements. From the detailed material and component behavior including the results of the long-term seal force and useable resilience investigations a better understanding of the overall seal behavior can be gained. The aim is to contribute to the development of material models and analytical approaches for the prediction of the sealing behavior in dependence of time and temperature. T2 - International Conference on Aluminum Alloys CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 17.06.2018 KW - Metal seal KW - Creep KW - Long-term behavior PY - 2018 SN - 978-1-926872-41-4 SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-45844 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 - JOUR A1 - Grelle, Tobias A1 - Wolff, Dietmar A1 - Probst, Ulrich A1 - Jaunich, Matthias A1 - Völzke, Holger T1 - Component and material investigations on metal seals for high level radioactive waste containers N2 - Long-term investigations performed at BAM look to extend the state of knowledge on safety-related components of interim storage containers. Metal seals act as the primary sealing barrier in the bolted double lid closure system of the containers. The behaviour of metal seals has been investigated for ageing times up to 8.5 years and for various temperatures. The main cause for reduction in useable resilience overtime was due to creep deformation of the outer jacket of the seal. KW - Metal seal KW - Radioactive waste containers KW - Creep KW - Long-term behaviour PY - 2018 SN - 1745-2058 SP - 32 EP - 34 PB - Nuclear Institute CY - London AN - OPUS4-48206 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 - Component and material investigations on metal seals for high level radioactive waste containers N2 - In Germany casks for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel and high level radioactive waste are equipped with Helicoflex® metal seals as main sealing barrier of the double lid system. The long-term behaviour of those seals is investigated at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) in order to evaluate the safety function of the containment at different temperatures over storage periods of 40 years or more in case extended interim storage becomes necessary. Long-term investigations have been done for ageing times of up to 8.5 years at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150 °C. It was found that the seal force and useable resilience decrease over time, which is mainly caused by creep deformation of the aluminium (or silver) outer jacket of the seals. This effect becomes stronger with increasing temperature. The ageing processes of the seal material and the overall seal behaviour is under investigation in order to derive analytical descriptions for the long-term seal performance. Thus, standardized tests on the basic seal materials, with focus on aluminium, and additional investigations on the seals as a component are conducted. The current investigations include compression and tension creep measurements as well as tensile testing. Furthermore, ageing of seal segments provides information on the development of the contact area width, jacket thickness and microstructural changes in dependence of time and temperature. The obtained data are used for the development of material models and an analytical approach to describe and predict the time and temperature dependent sealing behaviour in the long-term. T2 - 11th International Conference on the Transport, Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Materials CY - London, UK DA - 15.05.2018 KW - Metal seal KW - Creep KW - Long-term behavior PY - 2018 SP - 18535, 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-45452 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -