Making high precision scientific measurements requires components that have been engineered to very tight tolerances. UK SME, HV Wooding has been working with CERN for three years, mainly supplying precision engineered components for superconducting magnet assemblies.
“We don’t have any products of our own,”
explains Sales Director, Paul Allen, “but we offer
a specialist precision engineering service to our
customers in a wide range of industry sectors.”
The company’s first contract with CERN the highly noteable Research centre was to
machine the magnetic yokes, stainless steel
collars and filler components for a prototype
quadrupole (focussing) magnet that is being
developed for the next major upgrade of the
LHC. They took a novel approach to the
manufacturing which proved to be very
successful.
“We use different techniques to machine
components, depending on the tolerances
[levels of precision] required. Obviously, the
smaller the tolerance, the higher the cost. We
wanted to offer CERN a competitive price so we
worked closely with CERN engineers to decide
which parts of each component needed the
smallest tolerances. For example, some areas
needed to be machined to an accuracy of less
than 10 microns, whilst for others it was only 50
microns.”
Bearing in mind that 50 microns is
approximately half the width of a human hair,
these are tiny amounts, but they can make a
huge difference to the performance of a
superconducting magnet.
“It quickly became apparent that the team at HV
Wooding were capable of really adding to the
performance of the components we were
developing,” says our contact in the Technology Department at CERN . “They were not
content with just providing what was initially
required, they wanted to optimise both price and
performance.
Having agreed the tolerances with the CERN
engineers, HV Wooding was then able to decide
which technique – wire erosion, laser cutting, or
CNC machining – to use for each part. The
components were independently inspected to
check that they met the specifications, and this
initial success has led to further contracts with
CERN. The company is currently working with
CERN on components for an 11 Tesla dipole
magnet, parts of which require a tolerance of
just seven microns.
It is a manufacturing approach that has proved
popular with existing customers, and crucially,
attracted new ones. Based on the success of
the first contract with CERN, HV Wooding has
also worked with Brookhaven National
Laboratory.
“Working with CERN has been pivotal for HV
Wooding,” explains Paul. “We can now offer a
more cost effective method of manufacturing
and that has helped us access new markets and
increase our customer base.”
For a small company with a turnover of €15M
and 115 employees, that matters.