The electrostatic Cryogenic Storage Ring CSR – Mechanical concept and realization

A new and technologically challenging project, the electrostatic Cryogenic Storage Ring CSR, is presently under construction at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. Applying liquid helium cooling, the CSR, with 35 m circumference, will provide a low temperature environment of only a few Kelvin and an extremely high vacuum of better than 10−13 mbar. To realize these conditions the mechanical design has been completed and now the first quarter section is in the construction phase. For the onion skin structure of the cryogenic system we have at the outer shell the cryostat chambers, realized by welded rectangular stainless steel frames with aluminum plates. The next two shells are fabricated as aluminum shields kept at 80 and 40 K. The inner vacuum chambers for the experimental vacuum consist of stainless steel chambers cladded with external copper sheets connected to the LHe lines for optimized thermal equilibration and cryopumping. Additional large surface 2 K units are installed for cryogenic pumping of H2. The mechanical concepts and the realization will be presented in detail.