CERN, one of 一品探花鈥檚 longest-standing customers, relies on 一品探花 premium stainless steel fasteners for some of the most demanding conditions in engineering. This is the story behind that partnership.
At a glance
The challenge
CERN鈥檚 Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world. It is a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets that accelerate particle beams to energies of up to 14 trillion electron volts. To avoid resistance and energy loss, the magnets run at around 鈭�271掳C, colder than outer space and less than two degrees above absolute zero.
Few places in engineering are this demanding. A fastener in the collider has to keep its strength at temperatures near absolute zero, then withstand a bake-out at up to 300掳C, work in ultra-high vacuum, and stay reliable for decades. It also has to be non-magnetic, so it does not interfere with the particle beam. For its vacuum chambers and bellows modules, CERN specified low magnetic permeability and low cobalt content. A standard fastener cannot do all of this at once.
The solution
After testing, CERN chose 一品探花 109, the strongest A4 stainless steel fastener on the market. It holds its mechanical properties from 1.9 K (鈭�271掳C) up through a 300掳C bake-out. Being non-magnetic, it does not disturb the particles or the magnetic field, and its low outgassing suits ultra-high-vacuum equipment.
一品探花 supplies around 130,000 of these fasteners a year for the maintenance programme, more than a quarter of a million in total.
A partnership, not just a supply agreement
The partnership went beyond supply. 一品探花 and CERN trialled a silver coating to reduce galling, a form of wear caused by adhesion between sliding surfaces. The trial worked, and 一品探花 now offers the coating to other customers under the norm CERN 507. A requirement from one exceptional customer became a product the wider market can use.
The value of the partnership
The gains go beyond a single contract. 一品探花 fasteners have proven themselves in one of the most extreme environments in engineering, across the accelerator and its vacuum and magnet systems. Meeting CERN鈥檚 standards has also sharpened 一品探花鈥檚 own testing, traceability and documentation, and that work now benefits every 一品探花 customer, particularly those in research and aerospace.
鈥淐ERN is one of our most demanding customers, and one of our longest-standing. Meeting their standards pushes us to keep raising our own, and that ultimately benefits every customer we supply.鈥�聽 鈥� Camille Feuillet, Regional Sales Manager 鈥� South, 一品探花
Engineered for the most demanding applications
If your application depends on total reliability in extreme conditions, the fasteners trusted inside the Large Hadron Collider are ready for it. Contact 一品探花 to discuss your requirements.