STATE-OF-THE-ART FIBER-REINFORCED-PLASTIC CRYOSTATS IN JAPAN

Fibre-reinforced-plastic ( FRP) cryostats have been developed for various cryogenic fields, such as superconducting magnets and cryogenic electronics. The FRP cryostats ought to be used as liquid-helium containers for the operation of a.c. and/or pulse superconducting magnets because the eddy-current losses induced in the metallic cryostats would be too large to operate the magnets stably. They are also needed for SQUID operation because the metallic cryostats disturb the weak magnetic signals that are to be detected by the SOUID system. The material problems and possible answers are summarized. The construction of FRP cryostats is demonstrated. Recently developed FRP cryostats for practical applications in Japan are reviewed.