Improved Bolt Models for Use in Global Analyses of Storage and Transportation Casks Subject to Extra-Regulatory Loading

Transportation and storage casks subjected to extra-regulatory loadings may experience large stresses and strains in key structural components. One of the areas susceptible to these large stresses and strains is the bolted joint retaining any closure lid on an overpack or a canister. Modeling this joint accurately is necessary in evaluating the performance of the cask under extreme loading conditions. However, developing detailed models of a bolt in a large cask finite element model can dramatically increase the computational time, making the analysis prohibitive. Sandia National Laboratories used a series of calibrated, detailed, bolt finite element sub-models to develop a modified-beam bolt-model in order to examine the response of a storage cask and closure to severe accident loadings. The initial sub-models were calibrated for tension and shear loading using test data for large diameter bolts. Next, using the calibrated test model, sub-models of the actual joints were developed to obtain forcedisplacement curves and failure points for the bolted joint. These functions were used to develop a modified beam element representation of the bolted joint, which could be incorporated into the larger cask finite element model. This paper will address the modeling and assumptions used for the development of the initial calibration models, the joint sub-models and the modified beam model.