Beam Intercepting Devices

Abstract: Beam Intercepting Devices (BIDs) include targets, scrapers, collimators, protection absorbers and beam dumps. They enable secondary particle production, shape or clean beams, and protect sensitive components by concentrating beam losses into shielded locations. In high-power proton machines, BIDs operate close to thermo-mechanical limits under intense radiation fields, and their reliability directly impacts accelerator availability. This review summarizes the dominant design drivers (energy deposition, temperature gradients, thermal stress, fatigue, radiation damage and activation), outlines a pragmatic design workflow combining energy-deposition assessment with coupled thermal/structural and fluid dynamic analyses, and reviews representative BIDs at PSI's High Intensity Proton Accelerator (HIPA), including current hardware and developments for the IMPACT project (Isotope and Muon Production using Advanced Cyclotron and Target technology).