Facilities for Container Drop Tests

When performing mechanical tests, it is very important to ensure that the container drops onto an unyielding target, so that postulated accident situations are covered by sufficient safety reserves. Depending on the respective container design types, BAM performs container drop tests from heights of up to 9 metres, whereby the unyielding target used in the drop test results in impact forces that would correspond to considerably higher impact speeds as compared to real fundaments.

Until autumn 2004, a 30 metre drop tower was available at the BAM test facility in Lehre for casks up to 100 tons weight and a drop height of up to 28 metres. In September 2004, a new drop tower was commissioned at the test facilities in Horstwalde (see photo), 50 kilometres south of Berlin; this tower is designed for loads up to 200 tons.

The drop height provided by the new 36 metre tower is 30 metres maximum. In this drop test stand, the impact area consists of a 5 metre thick reinforced concrete block weighting 2450 tons, let into the ground (base area 14 m x 14 m); a 22 centimetre thick steel plate (base area 10 m x 4.5 m) has been embedded and fixed into the surface of this slab. The hydraulic and electromagnet releasing devices ensure that the test object can be released without momentum.

In BAM's test hall in Berlin, drop tests from heights up to 9 metres can be performed with test objects weighing up to 5000 kilograms. The unyielding target consists of a 3 metre thick 280 ton concrete block (base area 6 m x 6 m) and a 30 centimetre thick steel plate (base area 4 m x 2 m).