Engineering Diffractometer - News

October 19, 2007

The two neutron slits arrived from JJ X-ray and were inspected.

September 14, 2007

The first of the initial six VULCAN detector modules - the detector loom with fibers strung - was delivered. Next, this module will have the scintillator plate, circuit boards, photo multiplier tubes, and cover installed to complete the final detector assembly prior to installation.

The face of the detector module, which will be covered with a scintillator plate, consists of hundreds of fibers strung in a grid.

The first VULCAN detector module is delivered.

Vendor testing to map the grid of fibers that make up the detector.

August 20, 2007

In another significant milestone, the VULCAN Double Disc Chopper passed the factory acceptance test at SKF Revolve, Calgary, Canada at the beginning of August. The chopper is currently being shipped to SNS and should arrive in the next few weeks where it will undergo further testing prior to installation.

VULCAN double disc chopper

VULCAN double disc chopper

June 29, 2007

As one of the few major tasks remaining prior to completion of the external facilities, the roof of the cave and the handrails for the roof were installed this week.

06-26-2007 Delivery of the concrete beams for the cave roof.	06-26-2007 Installation of the concrete beams for the cave roof.
06-28-2007 The cave roof is installed.	06-28-2007 Vulcan Instrument team on the cave roof after roof installation.

June 22, 2007

It was a busy week for construction/installation activities in the external building. The 5-ton crane was load tested, the office was finished, and the suspended floor was installed in the cave.

In addition, installation of both the personnel shield door and the utility shield door was completed [less the mechanical drive components to be installed later by SNS personnel].  The base layer of asphalt was laid for the drive and parking lot of the external facilities.

June 15, 2007

As the external facilities move closer to being handed over to the SNS from the contractor, many installations are being performed. The power was connected and turned on for the entire building, the cave has been painted, and the roll-up door to the truck bay was installed. Installation of the shield doors began and is ongoing with the rails going in first before the doors were stood into place.

06-11-07 Rail installation for the shield doors 06-11-07 Leveling of the shield door rails

06-15-07 Truck bay roll-up door installation 06-15-07 Personnel shield door installation 06-15-07 Utility shield door installation

May 25, 2007

Installation of the front end shielding scheduled to be installed during the shutdown was completed.

5-24-2007 FES Installed

The HVAC units for the cave, office, and truck bay of the satellite building were installed. In addition, the 5-ton crane in the satellite building was powered up and final adjustments were made before using it to install the 2-ton crane in the cave.

IDT met to review vendors proposal for the load-frame and furnace assembly.  A strategy for moving forward has been identified.

Apr. 30, 2007

Over the last month VULCAN has made some very important strides. The installation/maintenance shutdown period scheduled through the end of May started two weeks ago, allowing access for important installations. The major installation highlight thus far was when Swiss Neutronics arrived to perform guide installation and alignment. While they were here, the first six pieces of neutron guide were installed.

04-23-2007 The first neutron guide section is installed.   04-24-2007 The first 6 pieces of neutron guide are installed.

04-24-2007 Optical alignment check of guide section 3.

In addition, prior to installation, QA analysis was performed on section 3 of the guide.

04-18-2007 Neutron guide QA setup

The beamline is really starting to take shape as installation front end shield blocks has begun and will continue throughout May.

04-26-2007 Shielding installation

There has been a great deal of progress on the satellite building as well. Fireproofing, as well as installation of exterior siding and roofing on the is complete. Installation of the windows has started as the electrical, mechanical installations are continuing. Also, tie-ins to the target building for the utility piping have been made.

04-21-2007 VULCAN External Building

Mar. 30, 2007

A representative from Swiss Neutronics opened the latest shipment of guides - sections 7, 8, and 9 - as a preliminary inspection. Upon this initial inspection, the guides look to be in good condition. More detailed inspections and Q&A will follow. In addition, fireproofing in the external building was completed.

03-30-2007 - Guide Shipment #2 containing section 7, 8, and 9.

Mar. 2, 2007

The roof decking is on VULCAN's satellite building and the siding is almost completely installed. While preliminary mechanical, electrical, and other utility installations have begun, "dry in" will be complete in the next couple weeks which will allow for more extensive electrical and mechanical installations.

2-27-07 VULCAN external building

3-02-07 VULCAN external building

In news regarding VULCAN components, the VULCAN chopper disks have been coated and through the reactor for transmission testing, but have not had the final machining completed. Additionally, the guide sections that have arrived were fiduciallized, in preparation for the first six, composing approximately the first 12 meters, to be installed in April/May, during the beam shutdown.

2-26-07 Coated Chopper Disk #2

3-01-07 Guide Fiducialization

2-26-07 shielding test fit

Thirteen front end shielding cans were successfully fit test on the beam line and will be filled with concrete next week. All of these will be installed during the April/May shutdown.

Feb. 9, 2007 Last week the forms were stripped from the cave, while this week both the 2-ton crane for the cave and the 5-ton crane for the external building arrived. In addition, the steel crane rails were installed for the 5-ton crane and it was set into place.		2-9-07 VULCAN 5-ton crane rails installed.
Jan. 26, 2007 The top section of the cave was poured this week to compose the full height of the walls. This was the last interior concrete pour remaining before installation of the roof for the entire building can begin.		1-26-07 VULCAN cave poured.

Jan. 19, 2007

The chopper cavity shield box was installed and grouted into place and the temporary shielding was stacked back into place to complete shutdown activities, as the beam is scheduled to be operational over the next few months.

Jan. 12, 2007

In a very important highlight, the first six sections of neutron guides were opened and a preliminary inspection was performed with a representative from Swiss Neutronics. Upon initial inspection, the guides look to be in good condition. More detailed inspections and Q&A will follow. In addition, installation of poured-in-place embed plates 1 and 2 was completed, while the forms for next section of the cave walls started going up this week.

1-9-2007 Glass sections of the neutron guides

1-9-2007 Steel Housings for the Glass Guides

Jan. 5, 2007 The concrete for next 12 feet of the cave walls, containing the embeds for the personnel and utility doors, was poured this week. Meanwhile, installation of the structural steel continued as backfilling around the cave basement and building pillars was started - this will form the base for the slab of the entire building.		1-5-06 VULCAN External Building
Dec. 29, 2006 Installation of the structural steel for the outside walls of VULCAN's external building has begun and will continue over the next few weeks. In addition, the cave basement walls have been completed and waterproofed. The next 12 feet of the cave walls, containing the embeds for the personnel and utility doors, is currently being formed.		1-26-07 VULCAN External Building

Dec. 8, 2006

It has been a very busy month for VULCAN. November started off with a two day IDT meeting, in which the present status for VULCAN was discussed. The team provided especially stimulating and valuable input that will improve the design of instrument components. Future flagship experiments for VULCAN were also discussed.

Installation activities picked up in mid November. Seven poured-in-place embed plates are completely installed. With the beam in a planned shutdown until mid January '07, front end installations will continue at a faster pace. The final two embed plates will be 100% installed by 12-15-06. Also, before the beam is activated again, the bulk shield insert carriage and lift assemblies, along with front end shielding package #1 (the chopper cavity shield box) will be installed.

10-26-06 PIP shielding without embed plates

12-08-06 PIP shielding embed plates installed

Construction of VULCAN's external building has also seen a great deal of progress. The cave walls have been completed and the sample chamber walls are currently being formed. In addition, the steel frame for the outside walls of the building are going to be installed over the next couple of weeks and the roof is slated to be on by the end of the month.

10-26-06 VULCAN external building

12-08-06 VULCAN external building

Upcoming activities include installation of several more shielding packages that are out for procurement. In addition, the first six guide assemblies from Swiss Neutronics will be delivered to SNS in the next couple days. Over the next couple months, the guides will be prepped for installation, scheduled during the next shutdown. Also, two Laser trackers have been delivered to ORNL that will be used to help with sample positioning in VULCAN. Testing with these trackers will begin in order to gain experience prior to use at VULCAN when operational. With all of these activities ongoing and upcoming, the VULCAN project looks to only get busier over the next few months.

Oct. 27, 2006

Construction of the satellite building is well underway. The slab for the cave has been poured and completed. Also, the shielding blocks for front end shielding were poured on 10-26-2006.

Jun. 17, 2002

Good news came in June for users of VULCAN, the engineering instrument at SNS. On June 17, 2002, the Canada Foundation for Innovation announced an award of $15 million Canadian dollars (~$10M U.S. dollars) to a group of scientists for the construction of VULCAN at SNS. The award also represents the first foreign investment at SNS.

The group, led by Dr. Bruce Gaulin, Brockhouse Chair in the Physics of Materials at McMaster University, represents a partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and a broad spectrum of neutron-scattering users in Canada under the umbrella of the Canadian Institute of Neutron Scattering. As part of the partnership agreement, ORNL would pursue funding for a high-resolution chopper spectrometer. Instrument development teams for both instruments are being formed, which will consist of scientists from universities, national laboratories, and industry in Canada and the United States.

The VULCAN team will hold its first meeting later in 2002 to finalize the design within the new budgetary scope. Together, these two new instruments will offer unprecedented opportunities for this segment of the user community.