Numerical and experimental analysis of the impact of a nuclear spent fuel cask

This paper deals with the numerical and experimental analyses of a shell type shock absorber for a nuclear spent fuel cask. Nine-meter free drop tests performed on reduced scale models are described. The results are compared with numerical simulations performed with FEM computer codes, considering reduced scale models as well as the prototype. The paper shows the results of a similitude analysis, with which the data obtained by means of the reduced scale models can be extrapolated to the prototype. Small discrepancies were obtained using large-scale models (1:2 and 1:6), while small-scale models (1:12) did not give reliable results. A 1:9 scale model provided useful information with a less than 20% error.