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I've read a lot about the design and construction of the 7-X, but I've never read why there are so many "portholes" all over the thing. There are a comically la
by numlocked 11y ago
I've read a lot about the design and construction of the 7-X, but I've never read why there are so many "portholes" all over the thing. There are a comically large number of them, everywhere, of totally different sizes, shapes, and at weird angles. Why are so many holes/ports necessary, and why is there so little homogeneity?
- sbierwagen 11y agoIt's an experimental device, the ports are needed for instrumentation. A utility-scale fusor would have many fewer of them. The ITER vacuum vessel also looks pretty funny, though much more symmetrical: https://www.iter.org/mach/vacuumvessel https://www.iter.org/mach/vacuumvessel The ITER design is also dramatically complicated by the need to have robots fit in there to replace blanket modules.
- db48x 11y agoIt's a scientific instrument, not a power plant. The portholes are to allow all the measurements and tests that they plan to do over the life of the machine.
- the8472 11y ago> Why are so many holes/ports necessary It's designed to be maintained from the inside. So you need to get replacement/upgrade/experiment parts inside where you need them. > and why is there so little homogeneity? stellarators are highly asymmetrical
- theoh 11y agoIt does appear to have five-fold rotational symmetry, at least in the way the coils are distributed.