Mechanical properties of solid neon and structural modeling of the XRS solid neon dewar

Compression tests have been performed on solid neon to determine Young's mo dulus and compressive strengths in the temperature range from 8 to 23 K. Th is data was used for structural analysis of the X-Ray Spectrometer's (XRS) solid neon dewar. The dewar is nearly full of a 2.5% dense aluminum foam, s o measurements were made for samples where solid neon was formed within the aluminum matrix as well as pure solid neon samples. The latter measurement s were made in order to determine, at least qualitatively, how the mechanic al properties of solid neon are affected by the aluminum foam and to allow direct comparisons with Young's moduli obtained from literature data as a c heck on the experimental technique. As a further check and to verify the st ructural model, thermal cycle tests were conducted on a small-scale toroida l dewar filled with solid neon. Mechanical properties measurements and data are described, along with model predictions and actual performance of both the engineering unit XRS dewar and the sub-scale dewar. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.