Asay of the fabrication technology of the KSTAR vacuum vessel mockup

KSTAR 진공용기 시작품 제작관련 기술분석

KSTAR vacuum vessel mockup was fabricated by Korea Heavy Industries. The fabrication technology chosen for the mockup is introduced and assessed in this paper. KSTAR vacuum vessel is a huge vacuum chamber of 52 cubic meters never built in this country. Through the experiency of the KSTAR mockup fabrication, welding methods for obtaining both ultra high vacuum and structural integrity of the large vacuum chamber are extracted. The fabrication and assembly techniques for the complicated structure composed of reinforced ribs, double walls and various ports are also developed. A nondestructive test on the welding spot was performed and the results show that no major leaks violating the criterion were found. The one of the main objectives of the mockup fabrication is to measure the dimensions of the structure before and after fabrication, which plays an important role in the fabrication and the assembly. By assaying the problems occurred during mockup fabrication, the KSTAR mockup will provide the techniques for the fabrication of the main vacuum vessel.