1. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Straw Material Plans Latest news. Latest news. Many tests ongoing at CERN and in JINR in and attempt to validate in and attempt to validate Excell 532 as quickly as possible.

2. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Base material PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) (C 10 H 8 O 4 )n Excell 532 is the current preferred PET, and is been tested Excell 532 is the current preferred PET, and is been tested We have a back up candidate. (Melinex from DuPont) We have a back up candidate. (Melinex from DuPont) Team involved in sourcing, qualification and validation: TE/VSC D. Letant-Delrieux, M. Taborelli, W.Vollenberg. EN/MME M. Scheubel, S. Sgobba JINR S.Movchan PH/DTH. Danielsson, N. Dixon

3. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Material specifications (reminder) PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) (C 10 H 8 O 4 )n The thickness of the material is 36 micrometers +/- 2 µm Tensile strength should be as the close to 180 N/mm² ( MD ) 230 N/mm² ( TD ) 230 N/mm² ( TD ) Density 1.4 g/cm³ Good permeation properties. Better than 100 cm³/m²/day/bar. Can be welded by ultrasound. Good metal adherence / coating properties. Good adhesion properties with epoxy.

4. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Variables : PET is available as single, or double side treated. Coating thickness Cu / Au can be optimised to suit our requirements.

5. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Ongoing tests : Permeation (+XPS). Microscope observation and analysis. Welding tests in JINR. Mechanical (Peel test, long term effects of tension on straw tubes) Mechanical (Peel test, long term effects of tension on straw tubes).

6. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Plans : Permeation : Permeation of material coated on treated side versus untreated side. Permeation of raw Excell 532 versus raw Hostaphan GN. Selection of material. Permeation of Coated PET w.r.t. coating thickness. Test : Permeation set up to measure several complete full length tubes.

7. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Plans : Microscope : Observations of Cu/Au coating on Excell 532. Observations of straws manufactured with Excell 532 (weld area). Metrology and set up of the straw weld line, clear progress has been made.

8. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Plans : Ultrasonic weld line : Machine set up parameters. Validation of components ( sonotrod, and anvil ) Manufacture of tubes with Excell 532. Pre-production of tubes – May 2010 ?

9. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Plans : Mechanical : Ongoing mechanical deformation under load of straws. Elongation test of Excell 532 versus Hostaphan GN. Leak test of straw tube made with Excell. Tensile test of weld, and method to replicate this in JINR. Peel tests of PET on substrate. Peel test of Cu/Au coating on PET. Device for storage of tubes under pressure.

10. Neil Dixon PH/DT CERN 22/03/10 Conclusion: Progress is difficult, but we are converging towards a brand and type of PET to suit the NA 62 straw tracker detector. TE/VSC D. Letant-Delrieux, M. Taborelli, W. Vollenberg. EN/MME M. Scheubel, S. Sgobba PH/DT H. Danielsson, N. Dixon JINRS. Movchan. FP/PI D. Gregorio. (purchasing)