Impact Limiter Tests of Four Commonly Used Materials and Establishment of an Impact Limiter Data Base·

In designing a package for transporting hazardous or radioactive materials, there are a number of components whose design can lead to the success or failure to meet regulatory requirements for Type B packages as specified in Title I 0 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 71 ( 10 CFR 71 ). One of these components is the impact limiter. The primary purpose of the impact limiter is to protect the package and its contents from sudden deceleration. It can also act as a thermal barrier. The package is protected by the impact limiter's ability to act as an energy absorber. The crush strength of most impact limiting materials is determined by a standard quasistatic (QS) method. However, it has been observed that there are a number of factors that affect crush strength, in particular load rate and angle of impact. The material being used as an impact limiter in some cases may appear nearly incompressible because of one or more of these factors, giving the package almost no protection at all.