Introduction to the Construction Works

A DISTINCTIVE BUILDING

With 68,000 square meters of built area, the main Sirius building will have four floors with capacity for up to 620 people, including employees and visitors. The predominantly circular shape of the building is a result of the geometry of the main accelerator (storage ring), where electrons are stored and synchrotron light is produced.

It will house the three accelerators of electrons and up to 40 beamlines, six of which are considered long, with lengths ranging from 100 to 150 meters. The building and its implementation are designed so that two extra-long beamlines can be built in the future with experimental stations up to 250 meters away.

In addition to the experimental area, this building has in its interior areas for utilities and sources of current to the accelerators as well as support laboratories, data centers, operation and control room, living areas and offices.

STABILITY IN NUMBERS

One of the biggest challenges of Sirius is the stability (dimensional, thermal and vibrational). At Sirius, each electron beam, which in some segments of the accelerators is only 1.5 micrometers in vertical size, four times smaller than a red blood cell, must follow a circular path of 500 meters in circumference, 600,000 times every second for hours without oscillating more than one tenth its size.

CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECTS

The structure of the building will be made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete and all its floors, including the ground floor, will also be built in reinforced concrete slabs. Thus, the structure will present great rigidity, reducing the transmission of vibration from the action of the wind, the movement of people and the operation of equipment and facilities.

Both the foundation and the floor of the experimental hall and of the shielding of the accelerators are separated from the rest of the floors of the buildings in order to avoid differential settlements, distortion and propagation of vibrations, whether generated internally or from external environments.

The roofing will be in aluminium conical seam panels with insulation for low thermal transmittance, ensuring the highly stable temperature control required by the environment.

TIMETABLE AND STATUS

In 2013, an extension of the land adjacent to CNPEM was expropriated by the State Government of São Paulo for the construction of Sirius. The earthwork was started in that same year and completed in 2014. On December 19th, 2014, the contract was signed with the construction company and the cornerstone of the Civil Works was laid.

In January 2015, the construction of the building for the new Synchrotron Light Source were effectively started. During the year, the first and part of the second phase of the planned schedule was concluded, including: the implementation of the construction site and temporary infrastructure; the execution of the foundation of the main building, of the Engineering, Compressors and Generators Areas, and part of long beamlines; the partial implementation of the superstructure of the main building and the construction of the metal structure of the roof of the main building. At the end of 2015, almost 20% of the civil works were complete.