MKS INSTRUMENTS MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING INTERNSHIP.
1. CALIBRATION TEST STAND, CFD OPTIMIZATION
MKS Instruments uses a thermoelectric cooler to control the ambient temperature inside its callibration test stands however, the airflow/ducting is not optimized leading to a thermal gradient across the test stand. This will shift the callibration of our products from unit to unit.
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I used Solidworks to model the current test stand to simulate (using Ansys Fluent and Solidworks CFD) the airflow and temperature gradient inside the test chamber and found a difference of around 5-7°C. Creating proper ducts, splitting the inlet airflow, and designing the dual layered table surface to exhaust the exiting air. The design had to adhere to the strict dimensions of the current design and incorporate the electronics needed for the callibration stand.
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As a result, my designs resulted in a simulation temperature difference of <2°C. As of finishing my internship, the newly designed test stand has not been implemented. Specific details regarding the design will not be disclosed.
MKS DA07 Baratron
*No images can be shown due to confidentiality*
2. LEGACY PRODUCT INSULATION
MKS DA03 Baratron
Currently, MKS Instuments uses a form of aerogel as insulation material for its high temperature products, specifically the DA03B (seen to the left). This solution is complex requiring an enclosed PTFE pouch with a GORE filter to prevent a rise in pressure as the temperature increases. From a production and cost perspective, this solution is inefficient.
Upon research, GORE also makes insulation material (GTI and C-GTI) which matches and beats our current insulation in thermal conductivity. However, the GORE C-GTI and GTI are only manufactured at 1/5 the thickness thus, I conducted testing on configurations of layering that would yield the best performance to price. As a result, MKS has moved forward in collaborating with GORE to provide insulation material. MKS has also looked at other legacy products to potentially replace their insulation material.
3. NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (GPB)
MKS Instruments was developing a new General Purpose Baratron (GPB) to release from a range of 1 Torr to 1000 Torr. The project had been prototyped and performance testing had started when I joined the team. My responsibilities included:​​
MKS DA07 Baratron (not GPB)
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- Conducting vibration testing + analysis
- Thermal gradient simulation + testing on the heater shell design
- Electronics thermal testing + voltage divider redesign
- Internal thermal and EMI shield prototype design + machining
- EMI shield validation testing + designing​
- Output signal FFT noise testing + analysis
- Outer shell product designing + 3D print prototyping
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As of finishing my internship, the product had not been released and details regarding the design is not disclosed
*No images can be shown due to confidentiality*
4. FLOC DEVELOPMENT
In collaboration with NIST, MKS produces a Fixed-Length Optical Cavity (FLOC) a device that uses light to measure pressure with higher accuracy and precision than most commercial pressure sensors.
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My role was to help design the structural frame as well as mounting brackets for the instruments and computing systems for the FLOC bench.
*No images can be shown due to confidentiality*
MKS FLOC Sensor