Caldwell Manufactures Transportation Frame for Cryomodules

Rockford-based The Caldwell Group Inc. has customized a lifting frame that will eventually be used during transatlantic transportation of cryomodules, likely during this summer.

The 35.76 feet (10.9 meters)-long by 7.2 feet (2.2 meters)-wide by 7.7 feet (2.35 meters)-high steel frame, provided by Caldwell’s Illinois-based distributor John Sakash Company, weighs 12,787 pounds unloaded and 40,345 pounds loaded. Cryomodules will sit on seven aluminum cradles, also manufactured by Caldwell, within the frame for road transportation and aboard a Boeing 747-400F, an all-cargo airplane.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s (Fermilab) Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) Project plans the assembly of three high-beta 650MHz (HB650) cryomodules at STFC-UKRI in the UK. The completed modules must be safely transported to FNAL in Illinois, U.S. To achieve this a transport frame was designed to protect the cryomodules during transit. The entire project was a collaborative effort involving extensive meetings between Caldwell, John Sakash, and Fermilab.

Using a crane, a cryomodule will be lowered through the top opening of the frame onto supports underneath the cryomodule. This will allow safe alignment and attachment of the cradles. The top guard is then lowered into position, and instrumentation can be mounted onto the central platforms.

The frame, originally designed by STFC-UKRI, a partner institution with Fermilab on PIP-II, meets requirements for shock, vibration, lifting, and transport loads in both the United States and Europe. The frame features four lifting points to stabilize the load, connected to a top sling at an angle of 30 degrees to accommodate headroom requirements; the sling spread will be 23.2 feet (7.07 meters) by 7 feet (2.13 meters).

Cream City Scale, also of Illinois, was contracted by Caldwell to complete a 200 percent load test, during which each cradle needed to be loaded. The job was approved on May 21, 2021 and shipped on November 30, 2021.

John Sakash Company and Caldwell are reportedly collaborating on provision of a dummy load to fit inside the frame for a spring test run. Sensors will be used to record the movements and stresses put on the dummy load inside the transport frame.

For more information, visit https://www.caldwellinc.com.