Low-vibration design & testing
Samsung Austin Semiconductor is a US-based company owned by the Korean manufacturing giant. The Austin campus houses the only fab facilities outside of Korea, producing DRAM chips. T
his was the second expansion to Samsung’s facilities in Austin, part of a 3 year, US$500million investment campaign. This part of the expansion adds about 50,000 wafer starts per month on 100nm and 80nm manufacturing processes.
The facility incorporates a one-level subfab with a bayand-chase cleanroom configuration. Functional areas for
photolithography are separated from other activities, with multiple floor systems and bay sizes serving different
areas. Due to the site soils condition (expansive taylor clay), 5’ deep crawl space and deep piles were used.
The structure is unique in that the lateral system is composed of a combination of shearwalls and diagonal
braces. In addition, two different floor systems at the process level were utilized within one monolithic structure. The monolithic structure simplified the lateral system and provided significant cost savings in comparison with independent structures.
Our design input included vibration and noise consulting at the Concept Design phase, continuing through Design Development and Construction Administration. Testing services included initial greenfield site ambient testing, in-situ structural evaluation, and as-built final evaluation.
