Mineral casting helps research into atomic detail of matter
EPUCRET supplies machine frame for x-ray laser
(firmenpresse) - The Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland is currently working on plans to develop an x-ray light source which will afford an previously uncharted insight into the status of matter. The large-scale research facility SwissFEL operates at wavelengths of just a fraction of a nanometer – so tiny that it is able to detect even atomic detail. The nerve centre of the facility is the injector, which will be resting on a vibration-resistant mineral casting frame from EPUCRET. The first prototypes are already in operation. Construction of the injector is also being treated as the first test phase for the SwissFEL.
Scientists from the realms of physics, biology and medicine are waiting with bated breath for the day when the Swiss Free Electron Laser (SwissFEL) is up and running. Until that day arrives, the research technicians and engineers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) from Villigen in Switzerland are on track to realize the dream, with a facility that is set to cost an estimated 280 million Swiss Francs and stretch over a length of 700 meters. The objective is to render particularly dynamic processes in molecules or solid bodies transparent on the smallest of time scales. “The relevant processes often take place at ultra-high speeds. Many chemical reactions happen within just a few femtoseconds, or billionths of a second. Our facility will allow these processes to be followed as if on film, or to depict molecules which were too small or impossible to fix using known imaging techniques”, explains Johan Wickström from PSI. He is responsible for development and production of the girder for the SwissFEL facility. The lower the energy, the more precise the x-ray laser needs to be. According to Wickström, this can only be guaranteed by providing the right foundation. Which is precisely what is going to happen. The base frame of the injector, known as the girder, is made of mineral casting from EPUCRET and is already proving a resounding success. The first prototypes have already completed the testing and analysis phase, and a small series of the tested bases is already in operation.
They are almost five meters in length and weigh in at 4,400 kilograms.
Absolute stability for matter
“The challenges posed by this project are threefold: extreme functionality, precision for the mounted components and absolute stability”, explains Dr. Utz-Volker Jackisch, Managing Director of EPUCRET Mineralgusstechnik. The girder has to be vibration damping, provide a resonant frequency of 40 Hz and good rigidity, as well as absolute surface precision. The spec also includes non-magnetic properties and high thermal stability, and keeping costs to within reasonable limits is another requirement. The girder is also required to permit easy transportation with components already mounted.
It was primarily the vibration damping, rigidity and facility for accuracy to within ten microns over a length of five meters made possible by precision grinding technology that impressed PSI. Another bonus was the scope for integration offered by mineral casting, allowing for instance profile rails to be used for variable component mounting. “Because the elimination of disturbing influences from the frame is vital for this project, mineral casting is ideally suited due to its non-magnetic nature and corrosion resistance,” adds Jackisch.
Mineral casting excels in highly dynamic applications
“First and foremost, we had to consider how to reconcile the static, dynamic and thermal behavior of the injector. We had the fundamental advantage that mineral casting excels in highly dynamic applications”, recalls Marc Dizdarevic, Head of Technical Sales at EPUCRET Mineralgusstechnik with responsibility for the SwissFEL project. Mineral casting dampens vibrations and reduces noise emissions. “Mineral casting offers up to ten times better material damping than grey cast iron or welded machine bed materials”, according to Dizdarevic. Structure-borne noise analyses also testify to an over 20 per cent reduction in the sound pressure level. But it is also the high specific heat capacity and low thermal conduction of just 2,9 W/mK which make mineral casting the material of choice for the experts in Switzerland. Both these properties result in an inert response to short-term temperature fluctuations in the material. In addition, heating or cooling elements can be integrated in the mineral casting frame. “The specified properties of mineral casting such as vibration damping and high resonant frequency were put to the test and confirmed by PSI on the basis of calculations and practical measurements”, says Wickström.
Injector construction due for completion by the end of 2010
In the past year alone, EPUCRET processed 12,000 tons of mineral casting in the mechanical and appliance engineering sector, making it the market leader. The decision to opt for this as the material of choice for the large-scale research facility testifies once again to the merits of mineral casting over steel and grey cast iron. For Dr. Utz-Volker Jackisch, clear confirmation: “Our cooperation with the Paul Scherrer Institute is a class A reference which is bound to recommend us for other research projects. The flexibility of mineral casting leaves no room for doubt”, enthuses Jackisch.
“EPUCRET has provided an all-round meticulously conceived answer to our demanding product brief and taken the project a decisive step forward. The sheer professionalism and efficiency which has marked our cooperation with EPUCRET has been another key aspect. We are confident that on this basis we will be able to complete construction of the injector by the end of 2010”, reports Wickström. In developing this facility, his institute is under considerable competitive pressure. Development is currently in progress in a number of countries on x-ray light sources designed to deliver ultra-short laser pulses. The best known examples: the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) in California and the European x-ray laser XFEL, due to be commissioned in 2014 in Hamburg. “Against this competitive background we need innovative concepts, and using mineral casting provides us with a vital trump card”, confirms Wickström.
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from machine tools to electronic production and medical devices. The mineral casting manufacturer has been a part of the international RAMPF Group since 1996. Starting 2008, EPUCRET is also represented in China with its own production facility. With the opening of its own precision grinding center for wideranging different materials such as mineral casting, hard stone, ceramic, steel and cast iron EPUCRET completes its services.
Ulrike Jäger
RAMPF Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Albstraße 37
D-72661 Grafenberg
T +49 (0) 7123 9342 – 1045
F +49 (0) 7123 9342 – 2045
E ulrike.jaeger(at)rampf-holding.de
Datum: 30.08.2010 - 07:39 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
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Contact person: Ulrike Jäger
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Phone: + 49 (0) 7123 9342-1045
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