Bertrand Baudouy

Status of the Next European Dipole (NED) activity of the Collaborated Accelerator Research in Europe (CARE) project

Plans for LHC upgrade and for the final focalization of linear colliders call for large aperture and/or high-performance dipole and quadrupole magnets that may be beyond the reach of conventional NbTi magnet technology. The Next European Dipole (NED) activity was launched on January 1st, 2004 to promote the development of high-performance, Nb/sub 3/Sn wires in collaboration with European industry (aiming at a noncopper critical current density of 1500 A/mm/sup 2/ at 4.2 K and 15 T) and to assess the suitability of Nb/sub 3/Sn technology to the next generation of accelerator magnets (aiming at an aperture of 88 mm and a conductor peak field of 15 T). It is integrated within the Collaborated Accelerator Research in Europe (CARE) project, involves seven collaborators, and is partly funded by the European Union. We present here an overview of the NED activity and we report on the status of the various work packages it encompasses.

Quench Experiments in a 8-T Superconducting Coil Cooled by Superfluid Helium

Quench experiments were performed in the CEA Saclay facility on the Seht superconducting magnet. The Seht facility is part of the Iseult R&D program. Seht is an 8-T coil wound in sixty double pancakes using NbTi conductor. The coil is cooled by steady state superfluid helium at 1.8 K and 1.2 bar. Instrumentation, inside the coil and in the helium bath, includes voltage taps, pressure and temperature sensors, as well as flow meters. The major issues in the Seht experiments will be addressed here: the normal zone propagation in the coil during quench and the pressure and temperature rise in the helium.

Insulation Development for the Next European Dipole

The Next European Dipole (NED) Consortium is working to develop the technology of high field, dipole magnets for a future luminosity upgrade of the LHC at CERN. The proposed magnet will be a large aperture (88 mm), high field (15 T) superconducting dipole using Rutherford cable and a wind-and-react manufacturing scheme. The magnet scale, forces and manufacturing route present real challenges for the conductor insulation technology. This paper reports on the insulation R&D programs carried out during the first phase of the NED project (2004 to 2007). In the R&D programs both conventional, (glass fiber-polymeric matrix) and innovative (ceramic) insulation materials have been studied. A primary objective was to develop a working insulation specification for a dipole magnet at the NED scale. Specialized sample geometries and test methods (mechanical and electrical) have been developed to make comparison between different insulation materials and processing routes. In particular, the role of sizing on glass fiber insulation subjected to magnet processing parameters has been studied using thermo gravimetric analysis.

A PISO-like algorithm to simulate superfluid helium flow with the two-fluid model

Abstract This paper presents a segregated algorithm to solve numerically the superfluid helium (He II) equations using the two-fluid model. In order to validate the resulting code and illustrate its potential, different simulations have been performed. First, the flow through a capillary filled with He II with a heated area on one side is simulated and results are compared to analytical solutions in both Landau and Gorter–Mellink flow regimes. Then, transient heat transfer of a forced flow of He II is investigated. Finally, some two-dimensional simulations in a porous medium model are carried out.

Numerical Investigation of Thermal Counterflow of He II Past Cylinders

We investigate numerically, for the first time, the thermal counterflow of superfluid helium past a cylinder by solving with a finite volume method the complete so-called two-fluid model. In agreement with existing experimental results, we obtain symmetrical eddies both up- and downstream of the obstacle. The generation of these eddies is a complex transient phenomenon that involves the friction of the normal fluid component with the solid walls and the mutual friction between the superfluid and normal components. Implications for flow in a more realistic porous medium are also investigated.

Experimental study of Large-scale cryogenic Pulsating Heat Pipe

Pulsating Heat Pipes (PHP) are passive two-phase heat transfer devices consisting of a long capillary tube bent into many U-turns connecting the condenser part to the evaporator part. They are thermally driven by an oscillatory flow of liquid slugs and vapor plugs coming from phase changes and pressure differences along the tube. The coupling of hydrodynamic and thermodynamic effects allows high heat transfer performances. Three closed-loop pulsating heat pipes have been developed by the DACM (Department of Accelerators, Cryogenics and Magnetism) of CEA Paris-Saclay, France. Each PHP measures 3.7 meters long (0.35 m for the condenser and the evaporator and 3 m for the adiabatic part), being almost 20 times longer than the longest cryogenic PHP tested. These PHPs have 36, 22 and 12 parallel channels. Numerous tests have been performed in horizontal position (the closest configuration to non-gravity) using nitrogen as working fluid, operating between 75 and 90 K. The inner and outer diameters of the stainless steel capillary tubes are 1.5 and 2 mm respectively. The PHPs were operated at different filling ratios (20 to 90 %), heat input powers (3 to 20 W) and evaporator and condenser temperatures (75 to 90 K). As a result, the PHP with 36 parallel channels achieves a certain level of stability during more than thirty minutes with an effective thermal conductivity up to 200 kW/m.K at 10 W heat load and during forty minutes with an effective thermal conductivity close to 300 kW/m.K at 5 W heat load.