Chunyan Cui

High Magnetic Field Superconducting Magnet System Up to 25 T for ExCES

The ultra-high-field superconducting magnets have been widely applied in scientific instruments for condensed matter physics. A superconducting magnet with the center field of 25 T in a warm bore-size of 32 mm in diameter has been designed for the Extreme Condition Experimental Science Facility (ExCES). The superconducting magnet consists of NbTi, Nb3Sn superconducting coils and YBCO high-temperature superconducting (HTS) insert operated at the 4.2 K. In order to prove the technical feasibility to achieve the target of 25 T, high-temperature superconductor YBCO and Bi2223 inserts have been designed, fabricated and tested in the operating temperature of 4.2 K. Inner diameter, outer diameter, and height for the YBCO insert are 40 mm, 68.9 mm, and 253 mm, respectively. The larger Bi2223 insert has the inner diameter, outer diameter, and height of 120 mm, 212 mm, and 268.8 mm, respectively. Tests at liquid helium temperature show that the YBCO and Bi2223 inserts can generate the center field of 5 T and 5.05 T, respectively. The assembly of the Bi2223 and YBCO insert coils can generate a center magnetic field of 7.6 T when tested at the liquid helium temperature. In this paper, the design, fabrication, and test of the HTS insert and the 25 T magnet are reported.

A Superconducting Magnet System for Whole-Body Metabolism Imaging

A 9.4 Tesla superconducting magnet is designed and fabricated with a warm bore of 800 mm for neuroscience research. The superconducting magnet will be made of a NbTi Wire-in-Channel (WIC) conductor with a higher ratio of copper to non-copper, which thus sustains the high stresses. It is cooled to operate temperature at 4.2 K liquid helium. The cryostat system is cooled through GM cryocoolers, some used to cool the radiation shield, and the others realize the re-condensed liquid helium. The MRI magnet system has a high level of stored energy, about 134 MJ, and a relatively-lower nominal current, about 212.5 A. The magnet will be operated in a persistent current mode with a superconducting switch. The WIC wires are employed to meet the cryostability criteria to avoid any risks from quench. The protection circuit with the subdivision of the coil reduces the terminate voltage and hot-spot temperature. In the paper, the specifications of magnet system will be presented.

High Magnetic Field Superconducting Magnet for 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer

A superconducting magnet with the center field of 9.4 T is designed and fabricated for 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Superconducting coil with NbTi/Cu superconducting wire is employed and cooled by re-condensed liquid helium and the magnet system with the clear-bore of 54 mm. The pulsed tube refrigerator with separated valve is employed to cool the magnet system. The superconducting magnet has an active shield with high pure copper shield to protect during quench of the shielding coil. The paper reports the electromagnetic design, and fabrication is detailed.

Fabrication of NbTi Superconducting Joints for 400-MHz NMR Application

NbTi superconducting joints (SJs) for a 400-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) magnet system were fabricated using the superconducting solder matrix replacement in an open-air condition. A detection device for testing the resistance of SJ has been established. The results show that the overall resistance of SJs is 9.58 × 10-12 Ω under the background field of 1 T by summation of individual joint resistance. The resistance of SJs and the capability for current load should meet the demands of the NMR system. The SJs are placed inside the cylindrical vessel above the magnet. The magnetic flux inside the top of the vessel is no more than 0.3 T to assure performance of joints. As results, there is only 0.0001 ppm for homogeneity deviation caused by SJs on this NMR system, and therefore, the negative effect is negligible.

Structural Design of a 9.4 T Whole-Body MRI Superconducting Magnet

A project to develop a 9.4 T magnetic resonance imaging system is proposed for bioscience research applications. A whole body superconducting magnet system will be manufactured and test in the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IEE, CAS). This magnet system features a room temperature bore of 800 mm in diameter, helium bath cooing, 9.4 T center magnetic field and passive iron shielding. The magnet is designed with radial layer-winding method. Five coaxial coils will be wound independently and assembled together as the main magnet. Coil length of the magnet is 3000 mm. In the magnet design, current density grading is performed to optimize the magnetic field distribution and stress level in the coil windings. The maximum magnetic field is 9.505 T, corresponding to an operating current of 224.515 A. The total magnetic energy storage is 138 MJ. Detailed magnetic and mechanic structure design as well as structure stress analysis are presented in this paper.

Analysis of Magnetic-Supported Suspension Torque Acting on Superconducting Sphere Rotor

Based on the Meissner effect, a superconducting sphere is suspended in the vacuum housing. Due to the asphericity of the sphere, the torque is generated when the magnetic-supported suspension forces act on the spinning superconducting sphere. An analytical model is presented to calculate the magnetic-supported suspension torque. The torque is calculated with regard to ten superconducting bearing coils located around the sphere, and a case study is given to discuss the disturbance torque.

Simulation of Spin-Axis Position Measurement of Superconducting Sphere Rotor by Fiber Optic Sensor

The reflective intensity modulated (RIM) fiber optic sensor is introduced for the measurement of superconducting sphere rotor spin-axis position in cryogenic instrument. A diffuse reflective rectangle pattern scribed on the circular flat surface at one end of the spin axis was used to modulate the reflective optical intensity on which the deviation value and direction of the spin-axis was determined. The relationship between the deviation of spin axis and the reflective optical intensity modulation is presented and some related factors are analyzed.

Mass Imbalance Measurement of Incomplete Spherical Superconducting Rotor With Air Suspension

For an incomplete spherical superconducting rotor, which has a flat face at the top and a hole at the bottom, respectively, and with highly rotational speed, the mass imbalance is very necessary. However, because of the special structure, the air suspension of the rotor fails as soon as the flat or the hole contacts with the air hole of an air-suspending cavity. Then, the rotor cannot be suspended steadily by air suspension. A metal gasket is added at the bottom of the rotor hole to control the rotor. In addition, an air-suspending cavity with six air holes symmetrically on the side of the cavity instead of at the bottom is used to carry out the air suspension of the rotor steadily. In this paper, a new method of mass imbalance measurement for the superconducting rotor with air suspension is introduced including the theoretical analyses and the experiments.

Analysis of the Driving Force of a Levitated Spherical Superconducting Rotor

A spin drive device of superconducting rotor was designed based on the Meissner effect. The electromagnetic field generated by the stator coils engenders the rotating torque on the superconducting rotor through the windows on its inner wall. The driving force was calculated using finite-element analysis, and the results show that the driving torque is approximately proportional to the square of the driving current. The difference between calculation and experimental results of the driving torque is about 7%. These results will be good references for the further improvement of operating parameters and rotation stability of a superconducting rotor.

Conduction-Cooled Superconducting Magnet With Persistent Current Switch for Gyrotron Application

A superconducting magnet with a center field of 4.5 T cooled by GM cryocooler and operated in the persistent current mode has been designed, fabricated and tested for gyrotron. The superconducting magnet has a warm bore with diameter of 90 mm, the homogenous region with the diameter of 40 mm and length of 230 mm. The ratio of the axial field to the center field located at 180 mm is lower than 88%. In the other special points, the ratios of the radial field to the axial field should be less than from 3% to 11%. The thermally-controlled NbTi/CuNi switch with superconducting joint is connected to the conduction cooled magnet. In this paper, the detailed design, fabrication and test are reported.