Less Magnetic Table Tops

Upper RS2000 Table with suspended beneath Metal Bellow Damping Enhancement, which consists of SG Breadboard, ND41-B Isolators, aluminum Brackets and Bellow Flange Attach Bars, atop aluminum Frame, which are all component of significantly less magnetic 300 austenitic stainless steel and aluminum system.
Nonmagnetic all aluminum XA breadboard: 40.00' x 45.00' x 3.00' with 5052 aluminum 3.4pcf-1/4'cell-0.0015'thick foil-2.250' deep expanded honeycomb, (102) threaded inserts, (3) dowel pins and all holes in top and bottom facesheets 0.014' true position [+/-0.005' tolerance].
Nonmagnetic all aluminum XA breadboard: 6.0' x 8.0' x 4.50' produced from 6061-T6 aluminum 1/4' thick black anodized top and bottom facesheets and 3003 aluminum 5.2pcf-1/4' perforated cell-0.003' foil-4.000' deep expanded honeycomb with (1) 18.00' diameter access hole with 6061-T6 aluminum 1/8' thick sleeve black anodized bonded sleeve.

Vibration Control - Less Magnetic Table Custom and OEM Solutions

  • Virtually nonmagnetic 316 stainless steel construction
  • Significantly less magnetic 304 stainless steel construction
  • Nearly nonmagnetic Tuned Mass Dampers
  • Nonmagnetic aluminum construction
  • Black anodized aluminum work surface
  • Aluminum honeycomb

With more than 50 years of experience in custom vibration control products, Newport's capabilities in less magnetic tables are extensive.

Design Considerations

Facesheets and honeycomb of less magnetic tables and breadboards can be produced from any combination of less magnetic material, most regularly:

  • Virtually nonmagnetic 316 stainless steel
  • Significantly less magnetic 304 stainless steel
  • Nonmagnetic aluminum wrought or cast ground & stress relieved plate facesheets with or without anodize
  • 3003 commercial grade aluminum honeycomb in densities of 5.2 lb / cubic inch (1/4" cell & 0.003" thick foil) to 1.0 lb / cubic inch (1.0" cell; 0.003" thick foil)
  • 5052 or 5056 military grade aluminum honeycomb in densities of 8.1 lb / cubic inch (1/8" cell & 0.004" thick foil) to 1.0 lb / cubic inch (1/4" cell; 0.0007" thick foil)

Newport procures whatever unique special material required, regularly purchasing different:

Facesheet Material

  • Widths and lengths steel sheets and aluminum plates: to avoid welding facesheets or doubling table sections
  • Thickness steel sheets and aluminum plates: to produce different table thickness / rigidity and to provide customer preferred thread engagement / guaranteed hole depth clearance, considering aluminum honeycomb is bonded directly to facesheets
  • Aluminum plate material:
  • Stocking 6061-T6 aluminum 1/4" thick wrought plate
  • MIC-6 (Alcoa) or K-100S (Alpase) +/-0.005" thick ground and stress-relieved precision cast plates: to improve flatness of table via parallelism of plates

Honeycomb Material

  • Widths and lengths of aluminum honeycomb: to avoid splicing honeycomb or doubling table sections
  • Steel thin metal honeycomb and aluminum honeycomb depths: to produce different table thickness / rigidity
  • Aluminum honeycomb material and density / cell size / foil thickness:
  • Stocking 3003 aluminum 5.2pcf-1/4"perforated cell-0.003"thick foil-2.000" and 4.000" deep x 4.0' x 8.0' expanded honeycomb blocks
  • To improve strength 5052 or 5054 military grade, which is not available with perforated cells to facilitate venting in vacuum or in applications with appreciable pressure changes
  • All Newport aluminum honeycomb nodes are bonded with epoxy, which has an operating temperature range of -233°C to +168°C [-388°F to +335°F]

To minimize lead time of common specials features Newport stocks these most regularly used unique special material:

Facesheet Material

  • 316 stainless steel 3/16" thick x 5.0' wide x 20.0' long sheets
  • 6061-T6 aluminum 1/4" thick x 4.0' wide x 12.0' long plates

Tuned Mass Damper Material

  • 316 stainless steel Tuned Mass Damper Masses

Each Tuned Mass Damper includes (2) 4.0" x 4.5" x 0.044" thick magnetic carbon steel springs, which are nearly completely enclosed in aluminum damper housing and whose material (properties) must remain magnetic carbon steel and whose weight is 0.20 kg [0.44 lb] per damper.

Honeycomb Material

  • 316 stainless steel 0.010" thick x 1.875", 3.875", 7.500", 11.500" and 17.500" deep thin metal
  • 3003 aluminum 5.2 lb / cubic foot 1/4" perforated cell 0.003" thick foil 2.000" and 4.000" deep x 4.0' x 8.0' expanded honeycomb blocks

300 stainless steel honeycomb, except for thin metal material, is same as catalog plated carbon steel and catalog 316 stainless steel (for RPR-N) honeycomb with coiled thin metal formed and nodes bonded by Newport producing orthogonally orientated cells. Aluminum honeycomb is purchased as expanded sheets and has diagonally orientated cells.

Learn More About Less Magnetic Tables

You can also learn more about less magnetic material. Below is some information and links describing less magnetic superiority of 316 stainless steel over 304 stainless steel.

"After substantial cold working Grade 304 may exhibit quite strong response to a magnet, whereas Grades 310 and 316 will in most instances still be almost totally non-responsive." (via azom.com)

"While 304 can become significantly attracted to a magnet after being cold worked, grade 316 is almost always virtually totally non-responsive." (via assda.asn.au)

"For certain grades such as Types 302 and 304, the increase in magnetic permeability can be appreciable, resulting in these grades being weakly ferromagnetic in the heavily cold-worked state." (via mceproducts.com)