Atlas Technologies Ltd

High intensity X-ray devices are used to sterilise vaccines, medicines, and blood products. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the global demand for these devices has increased dramatically.

The main objective of this project was to use The Open University’s (OU) know-how and state-of-the-art facilities to expedite the fabrication of X-ray sterilisers by developing a new manufacturing technology.

At the beginning of August 2020, Dr Amir Shirzadi and technicians from the School of Engineering and Innovation, started their round-the-clock work on this project. Within five months they had developed a new manufacturing technology and scaled it up at Wallwork Co’s facilities to create the first set of fabricated bi-metal vacuum flanges, made of aluminium and stainless steels, which are the key components in medical X-ray sterilisers. More components were fabricated in the first half of 2021 and dispatched to the USA partner and passed further stringent tests carried out on the assembled X-ray tubes.

… The project has been a great success. Thanks for funding this important project and thanks Dr Shirzadi and his team for the amazing work you have done. This will save lives.

From Jed Bothell
President of Atlas Technologies Ltd

Urgent need for a new technology

Traditionally the bi-metal flanges used in X-ray sterilisers could only be made by “Explosive Welding” of high-strength aluminium alloys to stainless steels. This method has a manufacturing lead time of six to 12 months, with high scrap rates due to leakage in ultra-high vacuum condition. Clearly, such a long delay during the COVID-19 pandemic would slow down the production of the life-saving vaccines. The Knowledge Transfer Voucher (KTV) project overcame these challenges using an alternative process called “Diffusion Bonding”.

Dr Amir Shirzadi, who is an expert in Diffusion Bonding with several patented inventions, led a dedicated team to develop an innovative technology which replaced Explosive Welding with a faster and more reliable process. The main challenges were joining these un-weldable alloys and up-scaling it from laboratory-scale to a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) within a few months; something which normally takes years to accomplish. Data provided by Atlas, the USA company was analysed, bespoke jigs designed, and tooling materials procured. The alloys (aluminium and stainless steel) needed for fabrication of the bi-metal flanges were supplied by Atlas. Part of the process optimisation was carried out using the facilities at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, at the University of Cambridge.

The KTV project started in July 2020 and the OU succeeded in manufacturing the first set of prototype bi-metal flanges for Atlas within five months. By summer 2021, in total of 18 diffusion-bonded flanges were dispatched to the US manufacture for field testing and installation on the X-ray tubes.

I’d like to thank Pete Ledgard, Anthony Jones, Michael Abbott and Manager Kevin Drew (central workshop), Zeeshan Mughal (electron microscopy), Ellies Muyupa and Yvonne Sutton (mechanical testing) who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to achieve this life-saving project.

Dr Amir Shirzadi
The Open University Senior Lecturer in Materials Engineering

Project benefits

The project team:

• developed a new, more reliable, and quicker process to manufacture key components of X-ray sterilisers
• used diffusion bonding to fabricate 18 full-size bi-metal adapters and sent them to our partner, Atlas Technologies for final assembly and field testing. The assembled components passed Atlas Technologies’ stringent tests
• newly developed technology can also be used in manufacturing ultra-high vacuum scientific devices such as X-ray monochromators and infra-red telescopes

About Atlas Technologies Ltd

For over 20 years, Atlas Technologies’ Enhanced Vacuum Technology Products and Services have helped lead the aluminium ultra-high vacuum revolution.