Construction and testing of sMDT tubes at the University of Michigan for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer upgrade

TL;DR

This paper details the design, construction, and testing procedures for small-diameter monitored drift tubes at the University of Michigan, supporting the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC.

Contribution

It introduces new infrastructure and procedures for sMDT tube assembly and QA/QC, achieving over 99% compliance in tube quality standards.

Findings

Over 99% of tubes meet QA/QC standards

2100 tubes built at UM for testing

Test stations also used for tubes from Michigan State University

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and construction of infrastructure and test stations for small-diameter monitored drift tube (sMDT) assembly and testing at the University of Michigan (UM) to prepare for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer upgrade for the high-luminosity program of the Large Hadron Collider. Procedures of the tube assembly and quality assurance and control (QA/QC) tests are described in detail. More than 99% of the tubes meet the tube QA/QC specifications based on 2100 tubes built at UM. The UM test stations are also used for QA/QC testing on the tubes constructed at Michigan State University. These tubes are being used to construct the sMDT chambers which will replace the current MDT chambers of the barrel inner station of the Muon Spectrometer.