Prototype profile: ATLAS Forward shielding mock-up for HL-WP8
In the context of the Hi-Lumi upgrade, several operations will be done in the region of the interface between the experimental caverns of ATLAS and CMS and the LHC tunnel.
Those operations involved the displacement or modification of the ATLAS Forward Shieldings, those assemblies, weighing more than 830 tones, have the function of protecting the big muon wheel and the muon EO chambers from background particles created in secondary interactions in the beampipe, the calorimeters and the TAS collimators. They are assembled in a complex way that requires a specific sequence of displacements to remove them, including moving several times the ATLAS wheel.
Due to the high number of stakeholders involved (Vacuum, alignment, machine protection, experiment, Rp, etc.) and the complexity of the operations, a 3D mock-up of the ATLAS shielding was suggested to show physically, in the different meetings, the sequence of operations and the space available.
This has been proven to be highly valuable for the understanding of the operations by people not related to the experiment, who found it was way easier to manipulate manually the different shielding pieces rather than imagine their movement on a static presentation slide.
Prototype by Antonio Alonso
