Mechanical and Vacuum Stability Studies for the LHC Experiments Upgrade

In April 2015, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has entered its second operational period that will last for 3 years with expected end of the operations at the beginning of 2019. Afterward, the LHC will undergo a long shutdown (LS2) for upgrade and maintenance. The four LHC experiments, ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb, will experience an important upgrade too. From the design point of view, the LS2 experimental beam vacuum upgrade requires multi-disciplinary approach: based on the geometrical envelope defined by experiment, the vacuum chambers size and shape must be optimized. This included Monte Carlo pressure profile simulations and vacuum stability studies in order to meet the specific pressure requests in the interaction region. Together with vacuum studies the structural analysis are performed in order to optimise chambers thickness and position of the operational and maintenance supports. The material selection for vacuum chambers in the experimental area follows the CERN ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle. This paper gives an overview of the LS2 experimental vacuum sectors upgrades. The most extensive design studies, done for the two experiments CMS and ALICE are discussed in detail.