A Project of Galactic Proportions

A high-tech telescope is looking into the origins of the universe – with the help of RAKU^® TOOL Close Contour Casting!

Where do we come from?

Where are we going?

Humanity has always been concerned with these existential questions. Now, we could get a little closer to an answer – with the help of the Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM) telescope.

The balloon-borne, ultra-precise device will be used by astronomers at the University of Arizona, USA, to study the history of cosmic star formation. The questions of how the universe came into being and where the journey could go will also be explored.

The TIM telescope was built by mtex Antenna Technology, Germany, and GTM-AS, Netherlands. While mtex Antenna Technology developed the antenna technology for the telescope, GTM-AS built the substructure and the tripod.

The positioning gauge used to assemble the CFRP support structure was made from Close Contour Casting RAKU^® TOOL CC-6503 from RAMPF Tooling Solutions.

The manufacturing process

• Production of the Close Contour Casting according to the customer's CAD data by RAMPF Tooling Solutions
• Direct milling of the positioning gauge from RAKU^® TOOL CC-6503 via Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)
• Preparation for production, inserting dowel pins
• Assembly, bonding, and finishing of the CFRP backup structure

The requirements for the polyurethane system RAKU^® TOOL CC-6503:

• Outstanding dimensional stability
• Very dense structure
• Very fine and homogeneous surface
• Good milling properties

Markus Halter, Regional Sales Manager at RAMPF Tooling Solutions:

The geometric tolerances of the parts had to be extremely tight, which was a particular challenge for both the material and the manufacturing process. We’re very happy that we made an important contribution to this challenging and exciting project together with our Dutch partner Scabro.