Argon Spill Trough Bellows - Leak Test
The four argon spill trough bellows were leak tested with helium during the week of March 12, 1990. Three passed without incident, but the fourth was found to have a leak in the weld at one of the ring/clamps. The hole was approximately 1/32-inch in diameter (a likely result of a welding burn through) and located on an inflexible portion of the bellows, the ring/clamp. Frank Juravic, who conducted the tests, suggested using grey structural epoxy to plug the leak. The epoxy is metallic with some inherent flexibility. The epoxy was applied and the bellows retested in the same manner as before. The repair was a success as the bellows proved to be leaktight. The bellows were then put in their original shipping crates and placed in storage at Lab C. Included in this report is the manufacturer's spec sheets on the bellows, a copy of the Quality Control Report form and a sketch of the test setup with an explanation of the procedure. On the bellows data sheet entitled 'Analysis of Stress in Bellows', the analysis output is obtained through a theoretical bellows program that uses quadratic equations to approximate characteristic curves for such data as axial, lateral and angular movement and spring rates. The program is best suited for bellows with a wall thickness of at least 0.015-inch and an operating pressure significantly above atmospheric. Thus EJS Inc. warned that the output data would not be very accurate in some instances. The data given on the EJS Inc. sketch sheet should be taken as accurate, though, for it was taken from the actual bellows delivered. The 72-inch length includes the 64.64-inch of bellows section, the (3) 1/2-inch ring/clamps and the (2) 1-1/2-inch end bands. The remainder of the discrepancy is accounted for by a 2.75-inch factory elongation of the bellows from the original free length. The 40-inch compression capability includes the 2.75-inch of factory elongation, the program determined 31.9-inch of compression from free length and 5.35-inch of elastic compression of the bellows convolutions due to such a thin bellows wall. EJS Inc. ran a single (16-3/16-inch) bellows section through a 10-inch compression stroke for 1000 cycles with no sign of rupture or plastic deformation.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- OSTI ID:
- 1031843
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-D0-EN-251; TRN: US201201%%1032
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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