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University of California, San Diego
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
MAE 156B: Senior Design Project (Winter 2025)
Project Description
The PISCES Lab within UC San Diego's Center for Energy Research (CER) studies how plasmas in fusion energy systems interact with the materials from the walls of the plasma confinement devices. Through Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy, these materials are analyzed in order to assess their performance and longevity. This research is conducted as work for ITER, a multi-national project dedicated to reducing the reliance on carbon energy by creating the first nuclear fusion power producing energy system. This project's objective is to develop an automated loading sample system to increase the throughput of samples the PISCES Lab can test in a single day.
ITER Tokamak
Project Objective and Requirements
The design requirements are as follows:
Design a sample loading system that has the option to be upgraded to completely autonomous
Must be able to test 5+ samples in a single work day
System must remain at ultra high vacuum (10-9 torr or 1.33*10-7 Pa) during testing and sample exchanges
Components used within the system must be resistant to outgassing
Thermocouple must remain in contact with the sample during testing
Final System Design
CAD of Final Sample Loading Design
The final design of the sample loading system features several key components: thermocouple manipulator, quartz testing chamber, sample loading chamber, sample grabber, and two actuators. The horizontal actuator allows for two degrees of freedom of motion that allow for the grabber to travel from the sample loading chamber to the quartz testing tube. Additionally, the vertical actuator allows for the sample storage system to move out of the way of the horizontal manipulator. The thermocouple manipulator allows for the thermocouple to be lifted on and off of the sample.
CAD Animation of Sample Retrieval
CAD Animation of Thermocouple Manipulation
Results
The final design performed well and has the capability of testing 8 samples within a 10 hour time frame. This design was able to increase sample throughput by 800%, as previously only 1 sample could be tested in the same time frame. While the system has not yet been tested at vacuum pressures or the maximum heating range, the sample loading system worked as designed and is able to efficiently transport and test the desired number of samples.
Final Assembly
Final Design Video
Final Poster.pptxPage updated
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