Thin-walled Corrugated Beam Tubes

The beam tubes of gravitational-wave instruments ideally should be low-cost, while still ensuring durability and a low outgassing rate. The GEO collaboration solved this by using thin walled (0.9 millimeter) corrugated beam tubes of high quality stainless steel (AISI 316LN).

This novel approach to employ thin corrugated beam tubes also reduced the weight, eased handling, and reduced the cost of suspending the tube.

Relevant publications

H. Lück
The Vacuum System of GEO600
E. Coccia, G. Veneziano, & G. Pizzella (Eds.), Second Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Wave Experiments (pp. 356-359)
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