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Organization

The Mechanical Systems Group Organization is shown on the NLC Project Group Organization Chart (Next Linear Collider Technical Web Page). The Mechanical Systems Group operates on a matrixed basis, primarily with the three principle areas of the NLC: Injector Systems, Main Linac Systems, and Beam Delivery. Each engineer is listed under the machine area where they presently spend the predominant amount of their time. Each engineer has specialized skills and experiences that vary widely; contact any individual engineer or J. Cornuelle for a specific need. Every engineer has prior and often extensive accelerator project experience.

Scope

While there is no rigid convention, in general Mechanical Systems include all of the systems whose content is primarily mechanical and whose direct purpose is to generate, contain, and accelerate the electron and positron beams. Systems whose direct purpose is to convert, supply, or control electrical power or signals are part of the Electrical Systems Group, and facility-related items such as tunnels, buildings, cooling water, electrical power to the wall or breaker box, and HVAC are part of the Conventional Facilities Group.

The goals (and work content) of the group depend on the project phase and the maturity of the NLC design. Currently the NLC project is in the Pre-Conceptual Phase, a Department of Energy Classification that represents the earliest phase of a project. The performance requirements and operating parameters of the accelerator have been defined, and conceptual designs for most of the major mechanical systems have been outlined. In some cases, preliminary requirements and specifications of individual components and mechanical systems have been generated.

The primary goal of the Mechanical Systems Group is to support the NLC R&D activities. With the exception of Permanent Magnets, these R&D projects are being managed by groups at SLAC and Fermilab other than Mechanical Systems. The largest amount of effort is going to support the RF test program in the NLCTA and the collimator project for Beam Delivery.

A secondary goal for the Mechanical Systems Group is to continue the generation of preliminary requirements, specifications, and mechanical design approaches that will enable cost estimates, schedules, risk assessment and risk reduction, reliability evaluations, and R&D needs to be prepared and evaluated. Wherever feasible, common approaches, standardization, simplification, commonality, and considerations of manufacturability, reliability, and supplier availability are utilized in generating and selecting among design alternatives.

A more comprehensive version of the functions and responsibilities of the Mechanical Systems Group can be found here in Text or in the Chart form.

As the project matures, hardware components and systems at lower and lower levels in the machine will have detailed requirements and specifications. The uncertainty associated with cost, schedule, availability, and performance will decline. As the R&D program moves forward, system decisions and choices will be made, enabling detailed engineering design to commence. This will lead to the beginning of source development programs in the private sector for key components where cost and/or availability is an issue. The most likely candidates for this are the components in the Main Linac that are associated with the generation and handling of the RF (radio-frequency) energy needed to power the electron and positron beams. Because of the high final particle energies required, thousands of high-powered klystrons, klystron modulators, waveguide systems, and accelerator sections, all at X-Band (11.424 GHz), are needed.

There are few NLC-Specific Standards at the present time:

The Mechanical Design Group at SLAC has a set of Standards plus some reference information on the Mechanical Design Site.

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April 22, 2002
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