Exploded View and Assembly Order
The exploded view separates components along their assembly axis, showing stacking order, interfaces, and maintenance access.
Assembly as information
An exploded view spreads a machine's components apart along the directions they are actually assembled. It answers questions a sealed model cannot: what goes in first, what must come out to reach a given part, and where two components share an interface.
Hyperion assembly axes
Hyperion explodes along two axes. The blanket and shield modules pull radially outward from the plasma, showing the shell ordering. The vertical components, central solenoid and center stack, lift along the machine axis. This makes the maintenance logic legible: outboard blanket segments are designed to be removed radially through vessel ports without disturbing the center stack.
Burner assembly axis
The burner explodes along its single long axis. The central cell separates from the two plug assemblies, the expander pulls away from its plug, and the direct-energy converter and end tank slide off the axis end. This linear order is the whole point of the mirror architecture: components are strung along an axis rather than nested in shells.
Interfaces
- Coil-to-structure interfaces show where magnetic loads are carried into the support frame.
- Blanket-to-vessel interfaces show coolant and tritium-line penetrations.
- Vacuum interfaces show where seals must hold against the plasma chamber pressure.
Design-record use
Because the explosion follows the true assembly axis, the view doubles as an assembly-sequence record. It is one of the ways the model functions as a design record rather than a rendering. Nothing here is built yet; construction begins Q2 2027.
For the sealed layered structure, compare the cutaway view.