Designing multi-anvil assemblies:
The COMPRES cell assembly
project
Kurt Leinenweber
Page 1 of 24
Page 2 of 24
Challenges:
• Thermocouple has to work well
• Wide range of P and T desirable for
each assembly
• Easy to assemble
• Not expensive
• Specs have to be repeatable from year
to year (well-documented)
Page 3 of 24
Five sizes of octahedra - 8 mm, 10 mm, 14 mm, 18 mm and 25 mm - used in the
COMPRES assemblies.
Page 4 of 24
The octahedra showing the sample holes already molded in.
Page 5 of 24
Gasketing
Gasket setup using pre-cut paper and pre-milled gaskets, shown on the bottom 4
cubes of the “nest.”
Page 6 of 24
Gasketing (cont.)
Pre-cut paper that is used to position the gaskets.
Page 7 of 24
Gasketing (cont.)
ASU’s shop foreman, Rick Flubacher, and an automated mill.
Page 8 of 24
Gasketing (cont.)
Trial milling of pyrophyllite gaskets on a programmable mill.
Page 9 of 24
Gasketing (cont.)
COMPRES machinist, Brian Nagy, and the COMPRES automated lathe.
Page 10 of 24
Assembly
Cutting thermocouple slots in a lanthanum chromite sleeve for the 8/3 assembly on
the automated lathe.
Page 11 of 24
Assembly (cont.)
Rhenium furnace (size 5.4 mm by 8 mm) cut using wire EDM (Electrical Discharge
Machining), for the 8/3 assembly.
Page 12 of 24
Assembly (cont.)
The 8/3 assembly with the lanthanum chromite sleeve and the rhenium furnace in
place.
Page 13 of 24
Modification for x-ray
Beam path (green) through the 8/3 assembly (courtesy of Emmanuel Soignard).
Page 14 of 24
Modification for x-ray (cont.)
NEW: Special rhenium furnace design for in-situ x-ray experiments in the 8/3
assembly, including a central slit for the x-ray beam.
Page 15 of 24
Testing
“COMPRES care packages” ready for shipping.
Page 16 of 24
Testing (cont).
“Big blue” multi-anvil at ASU (frame
is from Clifton Fluid Power, Inc.;
module made in-house).
Page 17 of 24
Testing (cont).
14/8 “G2” assembly after squeezing.
Page 18 of 24
Results for three “locked” assemblies
• Calibration curves
• Success rates
• Suitability for offline and in-situ work
• (note: because development of too many new
things can be confusing, we “lock” certain
designs so that they won’t change, while we
continue to develop others).
Page 19 of 24
14/8 “Caltech” assembly
14/8 “Caltech” assembly (lanthanum chromite step-heater)
Page 20 of 24
14/8 “Caltech” assembly thermal profile
Page 21 of 24
14/8 “G2” assembly
Page 22 of 24
8/3 assembly
Page 23 of 24
8/3 assembly (cont): room temperature calibration.
Page 24 of 24
8/3 assembly (cont.): Thermal profile.
Page 25 of 24
8/3 assembly (cont.) Effect of temperature on pressure.
Page 26 of 24
10/5 “Tami” assembly
10/5 Power Curve from APS experiments
500
450
400
Power (W)
350
300
T0556
T0558
T0560
250
200
150
100
50
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Temperature (oC)
Page 27 of 24
1200
1400
1600
10/5 “Tami” assembly (cont.): Pressure calibration
Pressure Calibration of 10/5 Assembly
(CsCl pressure standard)
25
Pressure (GPa)
20
1000oC
25oC
15
10
5
0
0
100
200
300
400
Force (Tons)
Page 28 of 24
500
600
700
800
10/5 assembly (cont.): Effect of temperature on pressure
Effect of temperature on pressure of 10/5 assembly
(CsCl pressure standard)
22
700 tons
Pressure (GPa)
20
500 tons
18
400 tons
16
14
12
10
0
200
400
600
800
Temperature (oC)
Page 29 of 24
1000
1200
1400
1600