arXiv2026
Beam intercepting devices rely on cooling systems to effectively dissipate the thermal energy generated during the impact of a high-energy beam. Regardless of the device's size, integrating the cooling system is a complex task, particularly when the resulting device is only a few centimetres in size, as is the case with the positron source target for the Future Circular Collider at CERN, where the current design consists of a tungsten core with two embedded tantalum cooling tubes. Due to the reduced dimensions of the chosen tantalum tubes (OD6.35xID4.35 mm), the selected manufacturing method is compression bending. The present study develops and evaluates a numerical model to manufacture the required elbow. The methodology is divided in four steps: i) minium allowable bending radius calculation, ii) material constitutive law validation, iii) prediction of the resulting distortion due to ovalization and iv) experimental validation via (non) destructive methods. The results indicate that a minimum bending radius of 10 mm is suitable for manufacturing the elbow. The distortion caused by ovalization is within +-0.5 mm, resulting in an important deviation respect to the nominal geometry. The numerical model was successfully validated experimentally. The micrographies performed in the cross-section of the tantalum tube before and after plastic bending confirm the integrity of the elbow. Additionally, an empirical expression is proposed to estimate the yield stress of pure tantalum based on Vickers hardness measurements. The proposed numerical model is capable to predict the ovalization along the resulting elbow, offering a viable alternative to define the cooling tube geometry. This study provides a methodology to determine the minimum bending radius for thick walled tubes to be used with compression bending and can be applied for the cooling system design of other high-performance devices