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Thin-Walled Niobium-Titanium Capillaries: The Challenge of Micron-Level Wall Thickness Uniformity

In the processing of niobium-titanium capillaries, reducing wall thickness means exponentially increasing precision requirements. When the conventional 1mm wall thickness drops below 0.1mm, wall thickness uniformity becomes the primary challenge to overcome. While niobium-titanium alloys offer the advantages of high strength and low-temperature superconductivity, they exhibit limited plastic deformation. Uneven stress during processing can easily lead to localized wall thickness deviations, directly impacting product performance.

Conventional tube processing tolerates wall thickness deviations of approximately ±0.05mm, while thin-walled niobium-titanium capillaries must maintain a strict tolerance of ±0.01mm, effectively reducing the error range by one-fifth. To achieve this accuracy, the industry generally utilizes high-precision cold rolling processes: computer control systems adjust the roller pressure and speed in real time to ensure consistent deformation at every circumferential point during the rolling process.

To mitigate precision deviations caused by parameter fluctuations, the processing line is also equipped with a laser thickness gauge for online monitoring. The device can collect 200 sets of wall thickness data per second. Once the value is found to be outside the allowable range, the system will immediately provide feedback and automatically correct the roller parameters, just like installing a "real-time monitoring eye" for the processing process, ensuring that the wall thickness of each section of capillary tube is accurately met.