Comparison of the IAEA unyielding surface to various yielding targets
An experimental program was conducted to determine the effects of target characteristics on the structural response of radioactive material transport containers subjected to impact tests. A cylindrical half-scale model without any energy mitigating devices represented the impacting projectile. The models were impacted at different velocities in an end-on orientation into soil, concrete, and unyielding targets. As expected, the impact into an unyielding target resulted in damage to the unit that enveloped the deformation produced from the tests into the yielding targets. Only striking the 18-inch thick concrete runway at twice the impact velocity obtained from a 30-ft fall onto an unyielding target (88 ft/s vs. 44 ft/s) resulted in relatively similar cask damage. In the past, tests have been performed to qualify the severity of the unyielding target with respect to yielding surfaces. The British staged a spectacular train crash into a truck cask at an impact velocity of 100 mph. A German rail cask was dropped 66 ft and impacted a simulated asphalt roadbed at 45 mph. Sandia National Laboratories performed a series of crash tests involving a train colliding into a radioactive materials transport cask at 80 mph, and a cask on a railcar impacting into a concrete wall. All of these demonstrations resulted in cask damage that was less severe than obtained from the regulatory 30-ft drop onto an unyielding target. These tests provide an environment in which the energy absorbing capabilities of the vehicle structure interact with the hardness of the target. It must be emphasized that the complete description of an impact accident situation combines the impact velocity with the target hardness.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6164164
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-86-2802; TTC-0708; ON: DE88000245
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A method for relating impacts with yielding and unyielding targets
A method for relating impacts with yielding and unyielding targets