BENCHMARK STUDY OF 2-DIMENSIONAL AND 3-DIMENSIONAL, FINITE-ELEMENT CALCULATIONS, SIMULATING DYNAMIC PULSE BUCKLING TESTS OF CYLINDRICAL-SHELLS UNDER AXIAL IMPACT

A series of tests investigating dynamic pulse buckling of a cylindrica l shell under axial impact is compared with several finite element sim ulations of the event. The purpose of the study is to compare the perf ormance of the various analysis codes and element types with respect t o a problem which is applicable to radioactive material transport pack ages, and ultimately to develop a benchmark problem to qualify finite element analysis codes for the transport package design industry. Alth ough the finite element codes used in this study utilize similar eleme nt technology, there are differences in the numerical solutions. Furth ermore, this study demonstrates that experiments-which are typically a ccepted as the ''correct'' answer-can have multiple results because of design sensitivities. Multiplicity of experimental results suggests t hat experiments performed for numerical benchmarks should first be num erically evaluated for such sensitivities.