Mechanical Design and Optimization of a Supporting System for Cryogenic Devices under Variable Loads: the Study Case of a Carbon Ion Rotating Gantry for Medical Treatments

The doctoral thesis contributes to the mechanical engineering field by proposing a novel model beneficial to design and optimisation of the rod-supporting system of cryogenic devices under a generic variable load. Two alternative support architectures – statically determinate and over-constrained – are proposed, modelled, validated and optimised. The resulting insights advance the state of the art in support system design and provide mathematical tools that can be generalised to a range of cryogenic applications such as: accelerator cryogenic components, optical alignment systems for cryogenic devices in high-energy physics experiments, superconducting wind-powered generators, and devices for the space industry.