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Cutting, milling, and drilling...
Cutting, milling, and drilling...
The aluminum testing chambers were made from an 0.25" thick extruded aluminum tube (8"x4"x36") that was first cut in half to make the inlet and outlet chamber, both 18" each.
Once cut, the both ends on each chamber were milled square using a Tormach 1100MX using two operations in the DIB Makerspace. The bored holes for the NPT weld nuts were also CNC machined on the Tormach.
The last of the operations before welding was drilling holes for the variable mounting device (VMD) brackets. This was completed by using Bridgeport mill in the MAE Machine Shop. In assembly, these holes are sealed with the same closed cell gasket material used on the VMD in order to maintain vacuum.
Water jet...
Water jet...
To turn the extruded tube into a chamber, a back wall for the outlet chamber and flanges were cut from aluminum plate to both seal and interface with the variable mounting device.
These were cut from 1/4" aluminum plate on the MAE Machine Shop's water jet, which allowed for both precision and accuracy without warping the flat sealing face of the flange.
These plates were then welded onto the chamber.
Welding...
Welding...
The MAE Machine Shop helped tremendously with welding the walls to the chamber, where the team got the chance to prepare, clamp, fixture, and weld themselves. We got the opportunity to use a laser welder, which was a very effective and easy method of welding aluminum.
The majority of the chambers walls were laser welded by us, mainly any straight section of weld, but TIG welding was used to weld the round NPT weld nuts and to reinforce the corners that the laser welder didn't quite manage to reach. Because of the difficulty of TIG welding, one of the machine shop's managers, Steve Mercsak, welded those final parts of our chamber.
Custom Brackets and VMD Walls...
Custom Brackets and VMD Walls...
Each bracket on the inlet and outlet chambers is custom made using laser cut steel.
The brackets were cut at the DIB Makerspace using the Fablight, then bent to shape using the Press Brake. Each was then sand blasted, deburred, and spray painted. The eight brackets that actuate the x axis clamping of the VMD were also tapped for a 1/4-20 bolt.
The final additions were cutting out the closed cell foam to glue onto the 3D printed walls that make up the VMD and adding the feet that allow the chambers to stand off the table without the flange interfering.
All custom and painted brackets. The slots allow for variability of gasket thickness on the VMD.
The process of cutting and gluing the closed cell foam to the VMD walls.
Final Assembly!
Final Assembly!
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