This paper aims to give non-expert engineers and scientists working in the
domain of accelerators a general introduction to the main disciplines and
technologies involved in the design and construction of accelerator cryostats.
Far from being an exhaustive coverage of these topics, an attempt is made to
provide simple design and calculation rules for a preliminary design of
cryostats. Recurrent reference is made to the Large Hadron Collider magnet
cryostats, as most of the material presented is taken from their design and
construction at CERN.Comment: 47 pages, contribution to the CAS-CERN Accelerator School:
Superconductivity for Accelerators, Erice, Italy, 24 April - 4 May 2013,
edited by R. Baile