APPLICATION OF POLYURETHANE FOAM FOR IMPACT ABSORPTION AND THERMAL INSULATION FOR RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PACKAGINGS.

Conference · Tue May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:913133

Smith, A; Glenn Abramczyk, G; Paul Blanton, P; Steve Bellamy, S; William Daugherty, W; Sharon Williamson, S

Polyurethane foam has been widely used as an impact absorbing and thermal insulating material for large radioactive materials packages, since the 1980's. With the adoption of the regulatory crush test requirement, for smaller packages, polyurethane foam has been adopted as a replacement for cane fiberboard, because of its ability to withstand the crush test. Polyurethane foam is an engineered material whose composition is much more closely controlled than that of cane fiberboard. In addition, the properties of the foam can be controlled by controlling the density of the foam. The conditions under which the foam is formed, whether confined or unconfined have an affect on foam properties. The study reported here reviewed the application of polyurethane foam in RAM packagings and compared property values reported in the literature with published property values and test results for foam specimens taken from a prototype 9977 packaging. The study confirmed that, polyurethane foam behaves in a predictable and consistent manner and fully satisfies the functional requirements for impact absorption and thermal insulation.

• Research Organization: SRS
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-96SR18500
• OSTI ID: 913133
• Report Number(s): WSRC-STI-2007-00444
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
42 ENGINEERING
FOAMS
PACKAGING
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLYURETHANES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
SHOCK ABSORBERS
THERMAL INSULATION