Mechanical Design of a Heavy Ion Beam Dump for the RIA Fragmentation Line

The RIA fragmentation line requires a beam stop for the primary beam downstream of the first dipole magnet. The beam may consist of U, Ca, Sn, Kr, or O ions. with a variety of power densities. The configuration with highest power density is for the U beam, with a spot size of 3 cm x 3 cm and a total power of up to 300 kW. The mechanical design of the dump that meets these criteria consists of a 70 cm diameter aluminum wheel with water coolant channels. A hollow drive shaft supplies the coolant water and connects the wheel to an electrical motor located in an adjacent air space. The beam strikes the wheel along the outer perimeter and passes through a thin window of aluminum where 15% of its power is absorbed and the remainder of the beam is absorbed in flowing water behind the window. Rotation of the wheel at 400 RPM results in maximum aluminum temperatures below 100 C and acceptably low thermal stresses of 3 ksi. Rotating the wheel also results in low radiation damage levels by spreading the damage out over the whole perimeter of the wheel. For some of the other beams, a stationary dump consisting of a thin aluminum window with water acting as a coolant and absorber appears to be feasible