Speaker
Description
The High Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) aims to enable continuous operation at instantaneous luminosities over double the current LHC value. To meet this goal, components installed in the Long Straight Sections around the ATLAS and CMS experiments must be aligned to within a tolerance of 0.45 mm vertically and 0.2 mm radially over a length of 420 meters. This precise alignment necessitated the development of a range of novel interferometric and capacitive sensor solutions, their acquisition systems, and micrometric resolution adjustment mechanics. This all falls under the scope of a new Full Remote Alignment System (FRAS) framework. To validate the FRAS sensors and adjustment mechanisms and confirm positioning strategies, a dedicated test bench known as the Single Component Test (SCT) was deployed at CERN. The SCT comprises a real magnet equipped with the full set of FRAS sensors and actuators, integrated into a tunnel-like configuration. This setup allows for the validation of all components under real operational conditions and serves as a rehearsal platform to crosscheck the integration of all systems before their final deployment in the LHC tunnel.
This paper describes the SCT setup, the integration of FRAS systems, the tests conducted, and summarizes the test results and lessons learnt.
