Overview of main-mechanical-components and critical manufacturing aspects of the Wendelstein 7-X cryostat

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) will be the world's largest superconducting helical advanced stellarator. This stellarator concept is deemed to be a desirable alternative for a future power plant like DEMO. The main advance of the static plasma is caused by the three dimensional shape of some of the main mechanical component inside the cryostat. The geometry of the plasma vessel is formed around the three dimensional shape of the plasma. The coils and their support structure are enclosed within the outer vessel. The space between the outer, the plasma vessel and the ports is called cryostat because the vacuum inside provides thermal insulation of the magnet system which is cooled down to 4K. Due to the different thermal movements of both vessels and the support structure have to be supported separately. 10 cryo legs will bear the coil support structure. The plasma vessel supporting system is divided into two separate systems, allowing horizontal and vertical adjustments. This paper aims to give an overview of the main mechanical components of the cryostat. The authors delineate some disparate and special problems during the manufacturing of the components at the companies in Europe. It describes the current manufacturing and assembly. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.