Pre-Drop Analyses of the Dynamic Behavior of Accelerations and Strains of the POLLUX Cask

With the POLLUX cask a series of drop tests has been performed by the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in cooperation with GNS/GNB in 1994. The series comprised three drop tests under conditions of loaded cask equipped with impact limiters falling from 9 m height onto an unyielding foundation and two drop tests under conditions of loaded cask falling without impact limiters from 5 m height onto a simulated concrete floor of a storage facility : 9-m horizontal drop, trunnions in drop direction, 9-m vertical drop onto the lid side, 9-m edge drop with center of mass over impact point, 5-m vertical drop onto the bottom side, 5-m horizontal drop, trunnions in drop direction. In a benchmarking process for design assessment these drop tests have been analyzed prior to the experiments using different approaches. This article briefly describes the methods used and presents some results in comparison to measurements performed by BAM.