Hydroforming of elliptical cavities

Activities of the past several years in developing the technique of forming seamless (weldless) cavity cells by hydroforming are summarized. An overview of the technique developed at DESY for the fabrication of single cells and multicells of the TESLA cavity shape is given and the major rf results are presented. The forming is performed by expanding a seamless tube with internal water pressure while simultaneously swaging it axially. Prior to the expansion the tube is necked at the iris area and at the ends. Tube radii and axial displacements are computer controlled during the forming process in accordance with results of finite element method simulations for necking and expansion using the experimentally obtained strain-stress relationship of tube material. In cooperation with industry different methods of niobium seamless tube production have been explored. The most appropriate and successful method is a combination of spinning or deep drawing with flow forming. Several single-cell niobium cavities of the 1.3 GHz TESLA shape were produced by hydroforming. They reached accelerating gradients E_{acc} up to 35  MV/m after buffered chemical polishing (BCP) and up to 42  MV/m after electropolishing (EP). More recent work concentrated on fabrication and testing of multicell and nine-cell cavities. Several seamless two- and three-cell units were explored. Accelerating gradients E_{acc} of 30–35  MV/m were measured after BCP and E_{acc} up to 40  MV/m were reached after EP. Nine-cell niobium cavities combining three three-cell units were completed at the company E. Zanon. These cavities reached accelerating gradients of E_{acc}=30–35  MV/m. One cavity is successfully integrated in an XFEL cryomodule and is used in the operation of the FLASH linear accelerator at DESY. Additionally the fabrication of bimetallic single-cell and multicell NbCu cavities by hydroforming was successfully developed. Several NbCu clad single-cell and double-cell cavities of the TESLA shape have been fabricated. The clad seamless tubes were produced using hot bonding or explosive bonding and subsequent flow forming. The thicknesses of Nb and Cu layers in the tube wall are about 1 and 3 mm respectively. The rf performance of the best NbCu clad cavities is similar to that of bulk Nb cavities. The highest accelerating gradient achieved was 40  MV/m. The advantages and disadvantages of hydroformed cavities are discussed in this paper.