Task 5: Test / Shipping Status Report

Overview  Where are we  Chamber  Stavelet holder frame  Module mounting frame  What next QMUL Sept 10

Where are we: Chamber  John/Jag designed and made a thermal cycling chamber for testing planks.  This is now documented in draft form (summary of what we have done).  Have thermally cycled two objects so far.  System works adequately:  Humidity under control  Can thermally cycle staves ~10+ cycles per 120l vessel  2 nd vessel purchased to increase speed in testing objects in the future. QMUL Sept 10

Where are we: Chamber  Plank 4  Structural degradation of plank 4 (foam core) was evident after 20 cycles.  Stave kapton + CFRP skins started to curl up.  Issues raised wrt thermal mis-match between kapton and CFRP as possible source of this.  Plank 5  Survived 50 cycles.  Tape's degraded as a result of thermal cycling. Raised some questions over construction.  By eye, again skins curl a little at the edges QMUL Sept 10

Where are we: Chamber  Lessons  We currently log temperature and humidity as a function of the thermal cycling.  Would be useful to have a complete log of this information along with other metrics, i.e.  Historical account of production (parts used, construction issues, anomalies, age of glue, pre-preg etc).  Add humidity and temperature raw data to this  Add photographic record (with scale?) before +during testing.  CMM measurement of upper and lower faces before + during testing  Thermal profile (use chiller through cooling pipe) before +during testing. QMUL Sept 10 ✔  ✔ ✔ = can do,  = Measure before and after at other site

Stavelet holder frame  Prototype construction done  Issue raised with regard to profile channel  See Fred's talk. QMUL Sept 10

Module mounting frame  1 st prototype made  some issues noted.  Plan to try machining a new prototype to see if concept can be constructed closer to tolerances.  The kit-form of the frame is driven by desire to be able to make in-house.  What if we don't resolve this issue:  Make stavelet frame out of 1 piece.  Means the stave frames will have to be outsourced (we know several companies that could do this work, and could approach them if we have to to obtain quotes). QMUL Sept 10

What next  Chamber:  Objects for further cycling tests?  Use of data base for logging information.  Stavelet holder frame  Continue to investigate issues, and coordinate with Oxford on the interface between frame and the locking mechanism components.  Recall target of doing a mock-insertion in the RAL.  Module mounting frame  Continue to move forward with prototyping. QMUL Sept 10