COSMOSM is the trusted analysis software for Los Alamos's tritium project

Company Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL Industry Aerospace/Defense Location U.S.A. Product Used COSMOSM Type of Analysis Frequency, High Frequency Electromagnetics More Details

The Challenge
Tritium, a radio isotope of of hydrogen made in small quantities by cosmic rays, is an important component in maintaining the nuclear portion of our national defense structure. Since tritium decays at the rate of 5.5% per year, it must be continuously replenished. Currently, tritium requirements are being met through reuse of tritium recovered from dismantled nuclear weapons; however, this will not be sufficient for future needs.

National laboratories, including Los Alamos National Lab, have joined forces in creating an Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) system which will easily, safely, and adequately meet the nation's tritium needs. One of the challenges of Los Alamos National Lab is to conduct a modal survey of a medium energy SCRF (Superconducting Radio Frequency) 5-Cell cavity to determine its natural frequencies and mode shapes. Since this challenge pertains to nuclear energy and the structural integrity of the tritium accelerator, it is imperative that any analysis is both thorough and precise.

The Solution
The results of this testing were obtained using COSMOSM. The experimental results were in good agreement with the numerical results, with the worst case mode differing by approximately 5%. This work is part of the goal to accurately predict axial and transverse cavity deformations, and therefore RF frequency shifts, of medium energy cavities due to facility ambient noise (mechanical vibration) under final operating conditions.

Summary and Metrics:

• Three dimensional Cosmos model of the cavity was built using ~4600 second order shell elements.
• Results obtained using COSMOSM showed good correlation between numerical and experimental results with worst case mode differing by approximately 5%