Year
2013
File Attachment
284.pdf579.76 KB
Abstract
Design, performance assessment, and certification of transportation packagings for high-level radioactive materials are based on testing and/or computer simulations, whereby the packagings are subjected to sequential tests involving 30-ft free drop, crush, puncture, 30-minute fire at 800o C, and water immersion, as prescribed in Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 71.73. Finite element modeling has been used extensively for evaluating the structural performance of transportation packagings. Verification and validation of finite element modeling is crucial in building confidence and help establish the predictive accuracy of modeling. However, in the current practices of finite element modeling for transportation packagings, there are issues that could affect the credibility and usefulness of the modeling results. These issues are discussed in the following text, with proposed measures for improvement. This paper also recommends additional instrumentation for testing to enable comprehensive model validation.