Session: DA-01-04 Design and Analysis of Pressure Vessels and Components-4

Paper Number: 121095

121095 - Comparison of Three Design Assessment Approaches for a 2-Liter Containment Vessel of a Plutonium Air Transport Package 

Sandia National Laboratories has recently completed a comparative evaluation of three design assessment approaches for a 2-liter (2L) capacity containment vessel of a novel plutonium air transport (PAT) package designed to survive the plutonium air transport hypothetical accident condition (HAC) test sequence defined in Title 10 of the United States (US) Code of Federal Regulation Part 71 §74(a), which includes a 129 meter per second (m/s) impact of the package into an essentially unyielding target. Containment vessels for hazardous materials transportation packages certified in the US are typically designed per the requirements defined in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III Division 3 Subsection WB “Class TC Transportation Containments”. For accident conditions, the level D service limits and analysis approaches specified in WB-3224 are applicable. Data derived from finite element analyses of the 129 m/s impact of the 2L-PAT package at various impact angles into a rigid surface were utilized to assess the adequacy of the containment vessel design. Three different containment vessel assessment approaches were investigated and compared, one based on stress intensity limits defined in WB3224.2 for plastic analyses, a second based on strain limits defined in WB-3224.3, WB-3700, and Section III Nonmandatory Appendix FF for the alternate strain-based acceptance criteria approach, and a third based on failure strain limits derived from a ductile fracture model with dependencies on the stress and strain state of the material, and their histories. This paper gives a brief overview of the 2L-PAT package design, describes the finite element model used to determine stresses and strains generated in the 2L-PAT package containment vessel by the 129 m/s impact HAC, summarizes the three assessment approaches investigated, discusses the analyses that were performed and the results of those analyses, and provides a comparison between the outcomes of the three assessment approaches.

Presenting Author: John Bignell Sandia National Laboratories

Presenting Author Biography: John Bignell currently serves as technical lead for structural analyses within the Packaging, Transportation, and Reactor Systems department at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), where he is responsible for the characterization of the mechanical response of hazardous materials packaging and space nuclear power systems subjected to normal and accident environments. Before rejoining SNL in 2022, John was the lead structural analyst overseeing the design, analysis, and test of various systems and components for a large satellite program at Ball Aerospace, serving in that role for three years from 2019 to 2022. Preceding his time at Ball Aerospace, John worked for 9 years at SNL in the Structural and Thermal Analysis department. During that time, he served in various roles, including as lead for the Radioisotope Power System Launch Safety (RPSLS) blast and impact team; lead structural analyst for the design, test, and certification of the first large capacity plutonium air transportation package; and modeling and simulation lead for the next generation of over-the-road transporter for government owned special nuclear material. John also spent 4 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the Spacecraft Structures and Dynamics group where he was involved in the design and testing of portions of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover mission to Mars. John earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign with coursework and research focused on structural mechanics, finite element methods, and computational science. He also earned a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Utah.

Authors:

John Bignell Sandia National Laboratories
Lindsay Gilkey Sandia National Laboratories
Gregg Flores Sandia National Laboratories
Douglas Ammerman Sandia National Laboratories
Michael Starr Sandia National Laboratories