Machining, Assembly, and Characterization of a Mesoscale Double Shell Target
✍ Scribed by Matthew J. Bono; Robin L. Hibbard
- Publisher
- Society of Manufacturing Engineers
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 159 KB
- Volume
- 6
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1526-6125
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✦ Synopsis
Several issues related to the manufacture of precision mesoscale assemblies have been identified as part of an effort to fabricate an assembly consisting of machined polymer hemispherical shells and machined aerogel. The assembly, a double shell laser target, is composed of concentric spherical layers that were machined on a lathe and then assembled. This production effort revealed several mesoscale manufacturing techniques that worked well, such as the machining of aerogel with cutting tools to form low density structures, and the development of an assembly manipulator that allows control of the assembly forces to within a few milliNewtons. Limitations on the use of vacuum chucks for mesoscale components were also identified. Many of the lessons learned in this effort are not specific to double shell targets and may be relevant to the production of other mesoscale devices.