'Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)'
Abstract
The UK programme of high power target
developments for a Neutrino Factory is centred on the
study of high-Z materials (tungsten, tantalum). A
description of lifetime shock tests on candidate materials
is given as part of the research into a solid target solution. A fast high current pulse is applied to a thin wire of the
sample material and the lifetime measured from the
number of pulses before failure. These measurements are
made at temperatures up to ~2000 K. The stress on the
wire is calculated using the LS-DYNA code and
compared to the stress expected in the real Neutrino
Factory target. It has been found that tantalum is too weak at these temperatures but a tungsten wire has reached over 26 million pulses (equivalent to more than ten years of operation at the Neutrino Factory). Measurements of the surface velocity of the wire using a laser interferometry system (VISAR) are in progress, which, combined with LS-DYNA modelling, will allow the evaluation of the constitutive equations of the material. An account is given of the optimisation of secondary pion production and capture in a Neutrino Factory and of the latest solid target engineering ideas