Heng Pan

Development of MQXF: The Nb 3 Sn Low-

The High Luminosity (HiLumi) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project has, as the main objective, to increase the LHC peak luminosity by a factor five and the integrated luminosity by a factor ten. This goal will be achieved mainly with a new interaction region layout, which will allow a stronger focusing of the colliding beams. The target will be to reduce the beam size in the interaction points by a factor of two, which requires doubling the aperture of the low-β (or inner triplet) quadrupole magnets. The use of Nb3Sn superconducting material and, as a result, the possibility of operating at magnetic field levels in the windings higher than 11 T will limit the increase in length of these quadrupoles, called MQXF, to acceptable levels. After the initial design phase, where the key parameters were chosen and the magnets conceptual design finalized, the MQXF project, a joint effort between the U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program and the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), has now entered the construction and test phase of the short models. Concurrently, the preparation for the development of the full-length prototypes has been initiated. This paper will provide an overview of the project status, describing and reporting on the performance of the superconducting material, the lessons learnt during the fabrication of superconducting coils and support structure, and the fine tuning of the magnet design in view of the start of the prototyping phase.

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This paper describes how a passive quench protection system can be applied to long superconducting solenoid magnets. When a solenoid coil is long compared to its thickness, the magnet quench process will be dominated by the time needed for quench propagation along the magnet length. Quench-back will permit a long magnet to quench more rapidly in a passive way. Quench-back from a conductive (low resistivity) mandrel is essential for spreading the quench along the length of a magnet. The mandrel must be inductively coupled to the magnet circuit that is being quenched. Current induced in the mandrel by di/dt in the magnet produces heat in the mandrel, which in turn causes the superconducting coil wound on the mandrel to quench. Sub-division is often employed to reduce the voltages to ground within the coil. This paper explores when it is possible for quench-back to be employed for passive quench protection. The role of sub-division of the coil is discussed for long magnets.

Quadrupole for the HiLumi LHC

MRI magnets and other magnets that have a low current and high self-inductance are passively quench-protected with a system that includes sub-divided coils with resistors and diodes that are in parallel with sections of the coils. The primary purpose of coil sub-division is to protect the coil from the high voltages that can occur during a quench. In the event of a lead failure (conventional or superconducting) between the coil and its power supply or its persistent switch, the total current in the coil flows through the diodes and resistors in parallel with the coil. When a lead fails, the current decay time constant for the coil current can be quite long. It is desirable that the coil quench in a time that is short compared to the coil current decay time constant. Experience shows that the heating from the resistors and diodes will eventually quench the magnet. This paper presents methods for shortening the time between a lead failure or a persistent switch failure and the eventual magnet quench.

The Role of Quench-Back in the Passive Quench Protection of Long Solenoids With Coil Sub-Division

The U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) and CERN combined their efforts in developing Nb3Sn magnets for the high-luminosity LHC upgrade. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to fabricate large aperture Nb3Sn quadrupoles for the LHC interaction regions. These magnets will replace the present 70-mm-aperture NbTi quadrupole triplets for expected increase of the LHC peak luminosity up to 5 × 1034 cm -2s-1 or more. Over the past decade, LARP successfully fabricated and tested short and long models of 90 and 120-mm-aperture Nb3Sn quadrupoles. Recently, the first short model of 150-mm-diameter quadrupole MQXFS was built with coils fabricated both by LARP and CERN. The magnet performance was tested at Fermilabs vertical magnet test facility. This paper reports the test results, including the quench training at 1.9 K, ramp rate and temperature dependence, as well as protection heater studies.

Protecting the Leads of a Powered Magnet That is Protected With Diodes and Resistors

The magnet used for the quench protection comparison has an ID of 1.5 m. At a maximum current of ~ 210-A, the stored energy is ~13 MJ. The impregnated magnet coil is 281 mm long and about 105.6 mm thick. The coil is wound on a 6061-aluminum mandrel. The magnet quench protection system is passive. The magnet coil is subdivided with back-to-back diodes and resistors across each of the coil subdivision to reduce the magnet internal voltages. Conservative quench protection criteria were applied when the magnet was designed. These criteria are presented in this paper. Quench protection of the magnet was simulated using three computer codes from three different places. The results calculated using the three codes are compared to the original magnet quench protection criteria used to design the magnet. The three quench simulation codes assumptions are compared. The calculated hot-spot temperature and peak voltages are compared for the three quench simulation codes.

Performance of the first short model 150 mm aperture Nb

In the framework of the Hi-Lumi LHC Project, CERN and U.S. LARP are jointly developing MQXF, a 150-mm aperture high-field Nb3Sn quadrupole for the upgrade of the inner triplet of the low-beta interaction regions. The magnet is supported by a shell-based structure, providing the preload by means of bladder-key technology and differential thermal contraction of the various components. Two short models have been produced using the same cross section currently considered for the final magnet. The structures were preliminarily tested replacing the superconducting coils with blocks of aluminum. This procedure allows for model validation and calibration, and also to set performance goals for the real magnet. Strain gauges were used to monitor the behavior of the structure during assembly, cool down and also excitation in the case of the magnets. The various structures differ for the shell partitioning strategies adopted and for the presence of thick or thin laminations. This paper presents the results obtained and discusses the mechanical performance of all the short models produced up to now.

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In preparation for the high-luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) in collaboration with CERN is pursuing the development of MQXF: a 150-mm-aperture high-field Nb3Sn quadrupole magnet. The development phase starts with the fabrication and test of several short models (1.2-m magnetic length) and will continue with the development of several long prototypes. All of them are mechanically supported using a shell-based support structure, which has been extensively demonstrated on several R&D models within LARP. The first short model MQXFS-AT has been assembled at LBNL with coils fabricated by LARP and CERN. In this paper, we summarize the assembly process and show how it relies strongly on experience acquired during the LARP 120-mm-aperture HQ magnet series. We present comparison between strain gauges data and finite-element model analysis. Finally, we present the implication of the MQXFS-AT experience on the design of the long prototype support structure.

Sn Quadrupole MQXFS for the High- Luminosity LHC upgrade

Two identical MICE coupling coils have the largest diameter and stored energy, at 13 MJ each, of all coils in the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE). The coils have an inner diameter of 1.5 m and radial and axial builds of 102.5 and 285 mm, respectively. The coils contain approximately 15 936 turns and are wound with a single rectangular NbTi strand with a copper-to-superconductor ratio of 3.9:1. Each coil is conduction cooled using three cryocoolers, which maintain an operating temperature at about 4.5 K. Each coil is powered through a pair of series-connected copper and 500 A HTS current leads. The quench protection analyses described here show that subdividing the winding into four or more, cold-diode-protected subsections maintain hot spot temperatures below 150 K and internal winding voltages below 300 V. The superconducting subdivision interconnect loops are protected by heat sinking them to the aluminum winding housing. Stabilizing the coil leads from the winding to HTS current leads minimizes the likelihood of lead quench. The first of three coils will be tested at Fermi Lab and the final two coils will be installed in MICE at Rutherford Laboratory.

A Comparison of the Quench Analysis on an Impregnated Solenoid Magnet Wound on an Aluminum Mandrel Using Three Computer Codes

The ability to correct magnetic field errors in a superconducting undulator is critical for the successful application of these devices in future and existing light sources. These field errors, which can emanate from sources such as machining and coil winding imperfections, can lead to reduced light source performance by introducing errors in both the electron trajectory and the relative phase relationship between the oscillating electrons and the emitted photons. In this work, correction schemes are presented, which use a single power supply along with a superconducting switch network to define the path for the current during undulator tuning. The basic switching concept was previously designed and successfully tested at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the approach presented here is a significant advancement in generalizing and scaling that core concept. A new fabrication method is presented here, which uses lithographic methods to produce current paths and switch heaters on a superconducting film. The effect of an example corrector current path design on the magnetic field is investigated using the Finite Element Method, and the results at various undulator and corrector energization levels are presented. Experimental results from the heater switch concept are also presented.

Mechanical Performance of Short Models for MQXF, the Nb3Sn Low-β Quadrupole for the Hi-Lumi LHC

The U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) has been developing Nb3Sn quadrupoles of increasing performance for the high-luminosity upgrade of the large hadron collider. The 120-mm aperture high-field quadrupole (HQ) models are the last step in the R&D phase supporting the development of the new IR Quadrupoles (MQXF). Three series of HQ coils were fabricated and assembled in a shell-based support structure, progressively optimizing the design and fabrication process. The final set of coils consistently applied the optimized design solutions and was assembled in the HQ03a model. This paper reports a summary of the HQ03a test results, including training, mechanical performance, field quality, and quench studies.