Optimization of the transporting beam for the CMS Barrel under a displacement constraint

The aim of this research was to find the optimal solution for the design of the new transporting beam for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Barrel. Once the new crane in the experimental cavern is installed, the previous design of the beam will become obsolete due to its weight. The current beam is made from steel and has four air-pads to support it. The new design of the beam, which will be presented in this thesis, will be made of aluminium alloy and will have only two air-pads supporting it. Two main issues that guided the direction of this research were the concentrations of stresses and the displacements due to bending. At the beginning of the research, all of the focus will be on the beam. This approach will prove to be limited, which will lead to the gradual inclusion of other interfacing components in the analysis. In order to correctly mimic the behaviour of the beam under such loads, representative models of the air-pads will be introduced into the Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Part of the original Barrel’s support foot will also be added to the assembly. The assembly will be analysed in ANSYS and the optimization results will be retrieved. The direct result of the optimization will be proved as not optimal for further FEA, so redesign of the basic model will be performed using CATIA Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. The redesigned beam will again be tested in ANSYS, but this time with more parts and more complex setups. The end-results will be satisfactory and the redesigned beam will be evaluated as a valid successor to the current beam.