An Additive Manufacturing Acrylic for Use in the 32 Tesla All Superconducting Magnet

• Other Authors: Johnson, Zachary (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Materials science; Mechanical engineering; Plastics
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-9194

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is building a world record all superconducting magnet known as the "32T". It requires many thousands of parts, but in particular one kind is unusually expensive to manufacture, called "heater lead covers". These parts are traditionally made out of a glass filled epoxy known as G-10, and conventionally machined. The machining is the expensive portion, as there are many tight tolerance details. The proposal in this paper is to change the material and manufacturing method to additive manufacturing with the material called "RGD 430". The cost per part with traditional machining is approximately $1,500 each. The cost per part with additive manufacturing of RGD 430 is approximately $32.5 each. There will be at least 14 of this style of part on the completed 32T project. Thus the total cost for the project will be reduced from $21,000 to $455, a 98% cost savings. The additive manufacturing also allows the machine designers to expand the dimensions of the part to any shape possible. Through testing of the material it was found to follow the common polymer characteristics. Its linear elastic modulus at cryogenic temperatures approached 10 GPa. The yield strength was always over 100 MPa, when not damaged. The fracture mechanism was repeatable, and brittle in cryogenic environments. The geometric tolerancing of the additive manufacturing process are, as expected extremely precise. The final tolerances for dimensions in the profile of the printer are more precise than +/- 0.10mm. The final tolerances for dimensions in the thickness of the printer are more precise than +/-0.25mm. Before utilizing the material, there should be a few additional tests run on it to ensure it will work in-situ. Those tests are outside the scope of this thesis. === A Thesis submitted to the Program in Materials Science and Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === Fall Semester, 2014. === November 14, 2014. === Additive, Cryogenic, Polymer === Includes bibliographical references. === Eric Hellstrom, Professor Directing Thesis; Zhiyong Richard Liang, Committee Member; William S. Oates, Committee Member.