Vol. 51, No. 3        February 12, 1999

Manufacturing and production

In 1992 DOE decided to close the Pinellas, Fla., weapon component plant. Some production responsibilities moved to Sandia, including a capability to supplement thermal battery industrial suppliers. A product realization team initiated work on the Sandia Battery Production Lab in late FY96. In FY98 the capability was completed and one lot of MC4152 War Reserve thermal batteries was produced for the B61 joint test assembly program. The team succeeded in making all quality and schedule goals the first time, ahead of schedule and $500,000 under budget. (1500, 10200, 14300)

We revolutionized the process for obtaining development-quality products through the Desktop Engineering Project pilot program. Engineers and designers create a product definition using solid modeling software. The definition is converted to a file and placed on Sandiašs Web page. Four prequalified vendors then submit bids based on the specifications, manufacturing, and inspection requirements contained in the electronic file. Sandia then makes a buy decision based upon each vendoršs price, delivery, and capability responses. (2900, 1400, 10200)

Manufacturing craftsmen are using tera-scale scientific computations to develop brazing processes used in neutron generator production. As part of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative and MAVEN (Model Accreditation Via Experimental Sciences for Nuclear Weapons) programs, Steve Gianoulakis (9113), Mike Hosking (1833), and Lou Malizia (14405) used a validated numerical braze furnace model to perform computational experiments that achieved a 50 percent increase in yields using only one-tenth the previous number of ŗreal˛ experiments. (1800, 9100, 14400)

The first MC4300 advanced neutron tube prototype was delivered and tested. This new design will satisfy future Limited Life Component Exchanges (LLCE). This culminates the initial baseline design and modeling effort accomplished through the product realization process. The MC4300 is roughly half the size of the MC4277 neutron tube, which is in final qualification for the W76 LLCE. (1100, 1400, 1500, 1800, 2200, 2900, 9600, 14000)

Last modified: February 12, 1999

View Sandia news releases and fact sheets

Questions and Comments || Acknowledgment and Disclaimer