ABSTRACT Rigid, closed-cell polyurethane foams are frequently used as cask impact limiters in nuclear materials and hazardous waste transport due to their high energy-absorption potential. When assessing the cask integrity in accidental scenarios based on numerical simulations, a description of the foam damping properties is required for different strain rates and for a wide temperature range with respect to waste heat generation in conjunction with critical operating and environmental conditions. Implementation and adaption of a respective finite element material model strongly relies on an appropriate experimental data base. Even though extensive impact experiments were conducted e.g. in Sandia National Laboratories [1], Savannah River National Laboratory Hence, BAM who is in charge of the mechanical evaluation of such packages within the approval procedure in Germany, incorporated systematic test series into a comprehensive research project aimed to develop numerical methods for a couple of damping materials. In a first step, displacement driven compression tests have been performed on confined, cubic specimens at five loading rates ranging from 0.02 mm/s to 3 m/s at temperatures between +90°C and -40°C. Materials include two different polyurethane foam types called FR3718 and FR3730 having densities of 280 kg/m³ and 488 kg/m³ from the product line-up of General Plastics Manufacturing Company Currently, the selected numerical material input values are validated and optimized by means of more complex loading configurations with the prospect of establishing methods applicable to impact limiters under severe accidental conditions. The reference data base is provided by experiments, where weights between 212 kg and 1200 kg have been dropped from heights between 1.25 m and 7 m on confined 10 cm cubic foam specimens. By presenting the deviations between experimental values and the corresponding output of finite element simulations, the potentials and restrictions of the resulting models are highlighted
