Buckling failure of the automated planet finder spectrometer determinate spaceframe

摘要

The Ken and Gloria Levy Spectrometer is now operational at a new 2.4 meter telescope on Mt. Hamilton. Together thespectrometer and telescope comprise the Automated Planet Finder (APF), a radial velocity instrument. A catastrophicfailure occurred during transit as the instrument was being shipped to the observatory. Several struts buckled in the spaceframe that supported the echelle grating. This event has caused UCO/Lick to re-evaluate design methodology and howengineering safety factors apply to this type of structure. This paper describes the shipping container design, eventsduring shipment, the failure mechanism, testing and analysis of a remedy, and its implementation. We also suggestdesign changes to prevent similar failures in the future.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.