The Collection and Analysis of Transient Test Data Using the Mobile Instrumentation Data Acquisition System (MIDAS)*

Packages designed to transport radioactive materials are required to survive exposure to environments defined in Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71 (NRC 1994). Cask designers can investigate package designs through structural and thermal testing of full-scale packages, components, or representative models. The acquisition of reliable response data from instrumentation measurement devices is an essential part of this testing activity. Sandia National Laboratories, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has developed the Mobile Instrumentation Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) dedicated to the collection and processing of structural and thermal data from regulatory tests. The self-contained MIDAS facility, housed in a 13.2-m (44-ft) trailer transporter, collects and processes structural and thermal data (Figure 1 ). The structural data acquisition system collects and processes up to 72 channels of time domain data from any combination of piezoresistive or voltage-based measurement devices. These measurement devices include accelerometers, strain gauges, strain-gauged bolts, pressure transducers, linear variable differential transformers, or other voltage-type measurement devices. The thermal data acquisition system collects and processes up to 200 channels of type K thermocouple data. Thermal data can be acquired in concert with structural data, allowing flexibility in the number and types of information collected for a specific test program.