Cost Reduction for Production of Superconducting Niobium Cavities

164 Cost Reduction for Production of Superconducting Niobium Cavities--Meyer Tool & MFG., Inc., 4601 West Southwest Highway, Oak Lawn, IL 60453-1822; (708) 425-9080 Mr. Frank J. Meyer, Principal Investigator Mr. Edward C. Bonnema, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER82431 Amount: $74,355 The current manufacturing process for fabrication of nine-cell niobium cavities used in high energy physics accelerators requires deep drawing of the eighteen half cells and nineteen electron beam welds. The manufacturing operations required to prepare the half cells for electron beam welding are labor intensive and expensive. Cost reductions in cavity fabrication would provide substantial savings. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of substantially reducing fabrication costs through the use of a spinning manufacturing process. Spinning will be used to fabricate three-cell cavities, reducing the number of electron beam welds from nineteen to four. Phase I will be accomplished in three parts. First, the manufacturing parameters for the spinning of a single-cell cavity will be determined. Second, using the parameters determined, a two-cell cavity will be spun. Third, the single-cell and two-cell cavities will be electron beam welded to form a three-cell cavity. Phase II will demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing nine-cell niobium cavities utilizing the spinning manufacturing process. This nine-cell cavity will consist of three-cell cavities with four electron beam welds. Information from this phase will be used to estimate production manufacturing costs. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: A successful Phase II project would determine the cost savings possible from the manufacture of cavities utilizing the spinning manufacturing process. Substantial cost reductions in cavity fabrication would increase the economic viability of numerous scientific and research projects and the Accelerator-based Production of Tritium project that utilize these cavities.