SUGGESTIONS FOR CORRECT PERFORMANCE OF IAEA 1 M PUNCTURE BAR DROP TEST WITH REDUCED-SCALE PACKAGES CONSIDERING SIMILARITY THEORY ASPECTS

In this paper the IAEA regulatory 1m puncture bar drop test is considered from the viewpoint of using reduced-scale model packages. The similarity theory will be represented with regard to the practical performing of the puncture test. To reach an energy input into the containment boundary of a reduced-scale model, that is equivalent to a full-scale package, the drop height has to be higher than 1 m. A general approach for the calculation of the drop height correction was derived depending on the scale factor. Complementary numerical calculations showed that the influence of a drop height adaptation becomes more important with larger scale factors. Furthermore it is shown that, a drop height adaptation must be considered not only for drop tests with a deep penetration of the puncture bar (due to a thick deformable outside structure), but also for puncture bar drop tests with direct impact onto the containment boundary especially if scale models with larger scale factors are used.