Speaker
Description
The Wide Field Optical Spectrometer (WFOS) is an instrument under development for the first-light operation of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which will provide high throughput across the entire wavelength range of 310-1000 nm, including the extreme blue and red wavelengths. WFOS is positioned on the Nasmyth platform of TMT and measures ~6m x 6m x 6m in size. The total mass is around 40 tonnes and requires precise positioning of optomechanical sub-systems within the instrument throughout it lifetime (>50 years).
The mechanical design of the structure plays an important role in the overall design of the instrument as the structure must ensure that the optics are kept in place, all instruments must be accessible for adjustments during alignment, effects due to temperature variation are minimal etc., all for lowest possible cost while providing the maximum possible performance. The WFOS structure has a static part as well as a rotating part which adds to the complexity in design.
The structure must also not undergo any sort of mechanical failure due to the different loads such as gravitational acceleration, vibrations, seismic activity etc. To understand the structural static and dynamic characteristics and to optimize the design finite element analysis (FEA) is used.
In this talk we shall discuss the design approach, various loadcases and other considerations taken into account in the structural design of WFOS.
| Presentation type | Oral |
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