RF-thermal-structural analysis of a waveguide higher order mode absorber

For an ongoing high current cryomodule project, a total of 5 higher order mode (HOM) absorbers are required per cavity. The load is designed to absorb Radio Frequency (RF) heat induced by HOMs in a 748.5MHz cavity. Each load is targeted at a 4 kW dissipation capability. Water cooling is employed to remove the heat generated in ceramic tiles and by surface losses on the waveguide walls. A sequentially coupled RF-thermal-structural analysis was developed in ANSYS to optimize the HOM load design. Frequency-dependent dielectric material properties measured from samples and RF power spectrum calculated by the beam-cavity interaction codes were considered. The coupled field analysis capability of ANSYS avoided mapping of results between separate RF and thermal/structural simulation codes. For verification purposes, RF results obtained from ANSYS were compared to those from MAFIA, HFSS, and Microwave Studio. Good agreement was reached and this confirms that multiple-field coupled analysis is a desirable choice in analysis of HOM loads. Similar analysis could be performed on other particle accelerator components where distributed RF heating and surface current induced losses are inevitable.