Workshop on composites for high energy physics November 2023

University of Bristol Lead: Dr Laura Pickard, Senior Research Associate, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering

Institutional Partner Lead: Dr Diego Álvarez-Feito, Project Engineer, European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)

Fibre-reinforced composites are of increasing importance for crucial experiments at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)’s Large Hadron Collider, which require lightweight structures with minimal metallic content. Bristol Composites Institute (BCI) and the National Composites Centre (NCC) lead the way in developing and manufacturing novel composite solutions.

Key areas of collaboration have been identified:

  1. Microvascular channels and cooling: Dr Pickard’s International Strategic Fund project demonstrated an order of magnitude improvement in pressure resistance of microvascular channels for cooling the particle detectors which sit in CERN’s experiments, using novel ‘fuzzy carbon’ overbraids developed under the NextCOMP programme.
  2. Truss structures: Dr Woods’ WrapToR approach can be used to develop support structures for CERN’s detectors, which may include reclaimed carbon fibres through HiPerDiF (high performance discontinuous fibre) technology.
  3. Cryogenics: CERN uses cryogens in cooling, calorimeters and superconducting magnets. Ongoing projects at BCI and NCC on liquid hydrogen storage and high performance nanocomposite materials developed by Prof. Hamerton for extreme environments will inform this work.

Composites used in CERN’s experiments must be suitable for a high radiation environment, relevant to NCC’s work on composites for nuclear fusion reactors.

This collaboration has potential to not only enable particle physicists to better understand our universe through upgraded facilities at CERN, but also to develop composites solutions relevant to a wide range of industries.

Activity:
This collaborative one day workshop involves experts from CERN, BCI and NCC plus others to clarify technical challenges and opportunities, identify what each institution can provide and put together a specific and actionable plan for moving forward.

Visitors from CERN will tour NCC and the BCI laboratories. The workshop will include presentations and discussion sessions in the key areas and is expected to result in studentships and visiting researchers, plus a ranked list of projects for funding applications.