Design, Manufacturing and Integration of LHC Cryostat Components: an Example of Collaboration between CERN and Industry

The components for the LHC cryostats and interconnections are supplied by European industry. The manufacturing, assembly and testing of these components in accordance with CERN technical specifications require a close collaboration and dedicated approach from the suppliers. This paper presents the different phases of design, manufacturing, testing and integration of four LHC cryostat components supplied by RIAL Vacuum (Parma, Italy), including 112 Insulation Vacuum Barriers (IVB), 482 Cold-mass Extension Tubes (CET), 121 cryostat vacuum vessel Jumper Elbows (JE) and 10800 Interconnection Sleeves (IS). The Quality Assurance Plan, which the four projects have in common, is outlined. The components are all leak-tight thin stainless steel assemblies (<10-8 mbar l/s), most of them operating at cryogenic temperature (2 K), however each having specific requirements. The particularities of each component are presented with respect to manufacturing, assembly and testing. These components are being integrated at CERN into the LHC cryostats and interconnections, thus validating the design and production quality. The major difficulties and improvements are discussed.