Simulation and application of Bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum as filling material for impact limiter of nuclear spent fuel transport cask

The filler material of impact limiter plays a vital role in the nuclear spent fuel transport cask. In this paper, combined with the size of the NAC-STC (a type of nuclear spent fuel transport cask), the energy absorbed by the impact limiter during the 9-meter drop process is derived, and it is analyzed that the plateau stress of the filling material is not less than 12.35 MPa, so it can ensure the safety of the transport cask. A small size bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum was designed as a filling material for the impact limiter of the transport cask. By studying the characteristics of the bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum and the mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics, it is concluded that the material has a longer energy absorption range and average plateau stress can reach 15 MPa, which indicates the material has a good energy absorption characteristic, and can theoretically be used as an energy absorbing material for impact limiter. Further, combined with the application of the similarity theory, it shows that the energy absorption ratio of bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum is 10(3):1 when the size is 10:1. Finally, through the simulation of drop test, it is further verified that the bi-directional corrugated honeycomb aluminum material is used as the filling material of the impact limiter can meet the safety.