QAprotocolorDAYABAYacrylicvessels-Universityof.docVIP

Acrylic Material Specifications for the 4-Meter Daya Bay Acrylic Vessels August 25, 2008 Revision 1.0 A material specification for the acrylic to be used for the 4-m acrylic vessels (AV’s) for the Daya Bay neutrino experiment is presented. This document outlines the requirements for the material, the testing to be done by the acrylic manufacturers, and the reporting requirements. Table of Contents Introduction Batch Size, Labeling, and Sampling Requirements Optical Requirements Mechanical Requirements Thickness Requirements Contamination Control and Acrylic Inclusions Radioactivity Requirements Chemical Compatibility Requirement Appendix A – Technical Contacts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Appendix B – Check List for Polycast Samples and for Polycast Sheet Appendix C – Check List for Reynolds Samples and for Reynolds Cast Material  I. Introduction Acrylic is the material of choice for the 3-m and 4-m acrylic vessels because it is optically transparent in the frequency produced by the scintillator and detected by the PMTs, it is chemically compatible with the liquids, it has low radioactivity, and it has adequate strength for handling the empty vessels and the full set of vessels. It is common practice to include additives in acrylic to improve its resistance to UV, but these chemicals reduce the transmission in the optical range of interest. UVT acrylic manufactured by Polycast (Spartech) and other suppliers does not have these additives or less thereof. Polycast UVT material been used successfully by the SNO experiment, and appears to be acceptable for the Daya Bay experiment. Reynolds UVT cast may be acceptable as well. Eight 4-m vessels will be constructed by Reynolds Polymer Technology, located in Colorado, USA. Reynolds plans to use a combination of UVT material supplied by Polycast (Spartec) and UVT cast material manufactured in house at Reynolds. Current plans are to manufacture the walls of the Daya Bay 4-m vessels from Polycast sheet and the