Home / Products / Neutron & vault doors

Moves like furniture.
Stops like a wall.

Linear accelerator vaults, high-energy rooms, and industrial cells all end at the same place: a door that has to do what the wall does, and still open every time. A-fabco engineers, fabricates, hangs, and services them, swinging and sliding, from 3,000 to 30,000 pounds.

  • Swing + sliding
  • To 19″ of lead
  • Brookfield operators
  • Serviced nationwide
Wide neutron door installed and standing open at a treatment vault entrance
Wide-opening neutron door · hung, balanced, and swinging by hand

Swinging neutron doors

Some high-energy linear accelerator installations require a specially constructed steel door with neutron-absorbing borated polyethylene and lead for gamma absorption. These are very heavy doors, 3,000 to 15,000 lb, fabricated to the physicist’s shielding specification. We configure them with Brookfield Industries motorized operators, special interlock switches, and energy-absorbing door stops. Brookfield heavy-duty hinges are selected for the weight of the door and are standard. Battery backup units that open the door when power fails are available.

We offer standard-design units for new construction and design custom doors for special shielding requirements and for retrofitting into existing openings.

12″ neutron door · lead brick core, numbered and fitted
12″ neutron door · lead brick core, numbered and fitted
Concrete 12″ frame · set and trued
Concrete 12″ frame · set and trued
Brookfield W-150HD hinge · rated for the weight
Brookfield W-150HD hinge · rated for the weight
NB1000 operator · power swing
NB1000 operator · power swing
Special 13-1/4″ door · shielding shelf above, retrofit
Special 13-1/4″ door · shielding shelf above, retrofit
Frame back protection · before the wall closes
Frame back protection · before the wall closes

Sliding neutron doors

Room designs without a maze need a higher level of protection at the door than designs with one, and some vaults simply cannot fit a maze. Our sliding neutron door is designed to withstand direct emissions by containing up to 19″ of lead, or lead and polyboron in combination. These doors weigh 20,000 to 30,000 lb, are configured to the physicist’s specification, and are designed for prolonged service with maintenance at regular intervals.

We install the Brookfield Industries NB-4000 motorized operator with special interlock switches and sensing edges. Entrapment is the concern we design around: a battery backup unit is part of every installation so the door can be opened when power fails, an optional manually engaged hand crank is available, and an optional emergency carriage-release mechanism lets the door be pulled open by hand.

Safety research, not just hardware. A-fabco is a leader in sliding door safety research. We developed procedures that, in the event of catastrophic opener failure, bearing failure, or other failures, can open a damaged door within about an hour of our team arriving on site when used with our quick-release system. Operator access restrictions may extend or shorten that time.
A-fabco designed and built slider · optional hand crank and disconnect
A-fabco designed and built slider · optional hand crank and disconnect
Field installation · imaging center vault
Field installation · imaging center vault
6″ lead contents · slider core
6″ lead contents · slider core
Carriage disconnect · top to floor
Carriage disconnect · top to floor
Bearing rails · long view
Bearing rails · long view
Sensing edge · vertical door edge
Sensing edge · vertical door edge
Standard carriage · header and track
Standard carriage · header and track
Control box · pair of doors, open
Control box · pair of doors, open

Service, for the life of the door

A door this heavy is a machine, and machines need people who know them. A-fabco keeps a core team of Brookfield Industries factory-trained technicians able to install, troubleshoot, and maintain Brookfield operators through the warranty period. Beyond the warranty, our affiliated company, Accelerator Door Corporation, handles repairs and maintenance for Brookfield and other manufacturers’ operators. Emergency service and routine maintenance are available nationwide, and service contracts are available.

When you buy a vault door from us, you are not buying from a distributor who will hand you a phone number in Ohio. You are buying from the people who will come fix it.

SWING

Swinging door

  • 3,000 to 15,000 lb
  • Borated polyethylene + lead
  • Brookfield operator, hinges rated for the weight
  • Interlocks, energy-absorbing stops
  • Battery backup optional
  • Standard units or custom retrofit

SLIDING

Sliding door

  • 20,000 to 30,000 lb
  • Up to 19″ lead or lead + polyboron
  • Brookfield NB-4000, interlocks, sensing edges
  • Battery backup standard
  • Optional hand crank and carriage release
  • Rooms without a maze

Submittal packages

Drawings for your GC and physicist to sign off before any steel is cut. Swinging neutron door submittal (PDF) · Sliding neutron door submittal (PDF)

Have a vault that needs a door?

Send the physicist’s report, the opening, and the swing room you have. We flag the gotchas early: clearances, floors, power.