Marlin N. Schuetz

A single pass electron accelerator

Abstract Higher volumes, increasing competition and the need to improve quality have led us to re-examine the process for irradiation of tubing and wire. Traditionallyin Raychem, product irradiation has involved the use of large multi-purpose facilities that were designed to handle relatively small volumes of a large variety of products as a separate process. Today, with larger volumes of certain products, there is an interest in combining processes to improve quality and reduce cost. We have recently designed and constructed a small, low voltage accelerator system that can be placed in-line with another manufacturing process and can uniformly irradiate a tube or wire product in a single pass. The system is comprised of two conventional accelerator systems having elongated filaments and placed on opposite sides of a linear product path. The ribbon shaped electron beams from these two accelerators are scanned, after acceleration toward the product path, in a conventional manner and 180 degrees out of phase from each other. The two accelerated electron beams then enter a third magnetic field that is synchronous with the scanning magnets and whose oscillating polarity is such that the ribbon beams are converged onto a tubular shaped window close to and around a segment of the product path. Trials with a prototype system have produced tubing having a dose concentricity of better than ± 10 percent on a single pass through the system.

A ribust industrial accelerator window design

Abstract An improved design for the thin metal foil window associated with high power industrial accelarators has been developed and tested. This design, which employs specifically shaped flanges, greatly reduce the stresses normally present on accelerators windows and has lead to longer window lifetime and a better means of window cooling.