COMPUTER SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF ULTRAHIGH VACUUM CF FLANGE JOINTS APPLIED IN THE ACCELERATOR AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Computer simulation and experimental research of ultrahigh vacuum CF flange joints are widely used in accelerator and space technology have been carried out. The computer simulation was carried out in the automated software environment "ABAQUS", which allowed to study the stress-strain state in the sealing zone. The novelty of the work lies in taking into account the certified (real) hardening curve of the flange material during simulation since the work carried out before that was performed for an ideal rigid (nondeformable) flange, which introduces significant inaccuracies in calculations. Two of the most famous CF flange designs of Wheeler and CERN are simulated. Zones of distribution of intensity of stresses and strains, as well as components of the stress state are obtained. The experiments were carried out in four cycles of assembly and disassembly of the flange joint (with a change of the copper ring after each cycle) using standard flanges and gaskets. Also, to eliminate statistical inaccuracies, each experiment was carried out repeatedly to clarify all the measured parameters. A comparative analysis of the results of simulation and experiments is performed. The obtained data are close both qualitatively and quantitatively, which makes it possible to use them both for practical and research purposes.