L. Bottura

A practical fit for the critical surface of NbTi

Known expressions, for the critical temperature, critical field and pinning force in NbTi are combined into a self-consistent fit formula that provides the critical current density as a function of temperature and field. The main advantage of such a fit is the extended validity range. Data available in literature and measurements on LHC strands are used to demonstrate the accuracy of the fit. The J/sub c/ data-sets used to cover a range of field from 0 T to 9 T and temperature from 1.9 K to 9 K. The standard deviation of the fits presented is of the order of 5% or better. This accuracy is generally sufficient for design purposes, extrapolation and scaling of measured results. Better accuracy, e.g. for short sample limit prediction, can be achieved restricting the domain of validity.

Advanced Accelerator Magnets for Upgrading the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider is working at about half its design value, limited by the defective splices of the magnet interconnections. While the full energy will be attained after the splice consolidation in 2014, CERN is preparing a plan for a Luminosity upgrade (High Luminosity LHC) around 2020 and has launched a pre-study for exploring an Energy upgrade (High Energy LHC) around 2030. Both upgrades strongly rely on advanced accelerator magnet technology, requiring dipoles and quadrupoles of accelerator quality and operating fields in the 11-13 T range for the luminosity upgrade and 16-20 T range for the energy upgrade. The paper will review the last ten year of Nb3Sn accelerator magnet R&D and compare it to the needs of the upgrades and will critically assess the results of the Nb3Sn and HTS technology and the planned R&D programs also based on the inputs of first year of LHC operation.

Twin rotating coils for cold magnetic measurements of 15 m long LHC dipoles

We describe here a new harmonic coil system for the field measurement of the superconducting, twin aperture LHC dipoles and the associated corrector magnets. Besides field measurements the system can be used as an antenna to localize the quench origin. The main component is a 16 m long rotating shaft, made up of 13 ceramic segments, each carrying two tangential coils plus a central radial coil, all working in parallel. The segments are connected with flexible Ti-alloy bellows, allowing the piecewise straight shaft to follow the curvature of the dipole while maintaining high torsional rigidity. At each interconnection the structure is supported by rollers and ball bearings, necessary for the axial movement for installation and for the rotation of the coil during measurement. Two such shafts are simultaneously driven by a twin-rotating unit, thus measuring both apertures of a dipole at the same time. This arrangement allows very short measurement times (typically 10 s) and is essential to perform cold magnetic measurements of all dipoles. The coil surface and direction are calibrated using a reference dipole. In this paper we describe the twin rotating coil system and its calibration facility, and we give the typical resolution and accuracy achieved with the first commissioned unit.

Accelerator-Quality HTS Dipole Magnet Demonstrator Designs for the EuCARD-2 5-T 40-mm Clear Aperture Magnet

Future high-energy accelerators will need very high magnetic fields in the range of 20 T. The Enhanced European Coordination for Accelerator Research and Development (EuCARD-2) Work Package 10 is a collaborative push to take high-temperature superconductor (HTS) materials into an accelerator-quality demonstrator magnet. The demonstrator will produce 5 T stand alone and between 17 and 20 T when inserted into the 100-mm aperture of a Fresca-2 high-field outsert magnet. The HTS magnet will demonstrate the field strength and the field quality that can be achieved. An effective quench detection and protection system will have to be developed to operate with the HTS superconducting materials. This paper presents a ReBCO magnet design using a multistrand Roebel cable that develops a stand-alone field of 5 T in a 40-mm clear aperture and discusses the challenges associated with a good field quality using this type of material. A selection of magnet designs is presented as the result of the first phase of development.

Measurement of AC loss and magnetic field during ramps in the LHC model dipoles

We describe the systems for AC loss and magnetic field measurements developed for the LHC superconducting magnets. AC loss measurements are performed using an electric method, while field measurements are performed using either fixed pick-ups or rotating coils. We present results obtained on 1-m long model dipoles, and compare the results of the different methods in terms of average interstrand resistance.

The EuCARD-2 Future Magnets European Collaboration for Accelerator-Quality HTS Magnets

EuCARD-2 is a project supported by FP7-European Commission that includes, inter alia, a work-package (WP10) called “Future Magnets.” This project is part of the long term development that CERN is launching to explore magnet technology at 16 T to 20 T dipole operating field, within the scope of a study on Future Circular Colliders. The EuCARD2 collaboration is closely liaising with similar programs for high field accelerator magnets in the USA and Japan. The main focus of EuCARD2 WP10 is the development of a 10 kA-class superconducting, high current density cable suitable for accelerator magnets, The cable will be used to wind a stand-alone magnet 500 mm long and with an aperture of 40 mm. This magnet should yield 5 T, when stand-alone, and will enable to reach a 15 to 18 T dipole field by placing it in a large bore background dipole of 12-15 T. REBCO based Roebel cables is the baseline. Various magnet configurations with HTS tapes are under investigation and also use of Bi-2212 round wire based cables is considered. The paper presents the structure of the collaboration and describes the main choices made in the first year of the program, which has a breadth of five to six years of which four are covered by the FP7 frame.

Test Results From the PF Conductor Insert Coil and Implications for the ITER PF System

In this paper we report the main test results obtained on the Poloidal Field Conductor Insert coil (PFI) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), built jointly by the EU and RF ITER parties, recently installed and tested in the CS Model Coil facility, at JAEA-Naka. During the test we (a) verified the DC and AC operating margin of the NbTi Cable-in-Conduit Conductor in conditions representative of the operation of the ITER PF coils, (b) measured the intermediate conductor joint resistance, margin and loss, and (c) measured the AC loss of the conductor and its changes once subjected to a significant number of Lorentz force cycles. We compare the results obtained to expectations from strand and cable characterization, which were studied extensively earlier. We finally discuss the implications for the ITER PF system.

Field errors decay and "snap-back" in LHC model dipoles

The magnetic field in accelerator magnets decays when the current is kept constant during the particles injection phase, and returns quickly (snaps back) to the original values as soon as ramping is restarted. Here we show results of measurements of the decay of the field errors in 10 m long LHC model dipole magnets. In accordance with previous findings, precycles and stops at intermediate current levels influence the decay. We discuss a possible mechanism causing the decay and snap-back, based on the internal field change in the cable.

Targets for R&D on Nb 3 Sn Conductor for High Energy Physics

High Energy Physics has been consistently pushing the performance of technical superconductors, for the benefit of high field magnet technology. So far the workhorse for particle accelerators has been Nb-Ti, but the practical performance limit has been attained with the LHC. Calls for higher beam luminosity (e.g., HL-LHC), and higher beam energy (e.g., FCC), demand a transition from Nb-Ti to Nb3Sn, presently the only practical candidate material offering the required high field performance. This paper provides a summary of desirable properties and performance targets for Nb3Sn to satisfy the challenging magnet specifications for upgrades of existing and future HEP accelerators.

Impact of the Residual Resistivity Ratio on the Stability of

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is envisioned to be upgraded in 2020 to increase the luminosity of the machine. The major upgrade will consist in replacing the NbTi quadrupole magnets of the interaction regions with larger aperture magnets. The Nb3Sn technology is the preferred option for this upgrade. The critical current density Jc of Nb3Sn strands have reached sufficiently high values (in excess of 3000 at 12 T and 4.2 K) allowing larger aperture/stronger field magnets. Nevertheless, such large Jc values may cause magneto-thermal instabilities that can drastically reduce the conductor performance by quenching the superconductor prematurely. In Nb3Sn magnets, a relevant parameter for preventing premature quenches induced by magneto-thermal instabilities is the Residual Resistivity Ratio (RRR) of the conductor stabilizing copper. An experimental and theoretical study was carried out to investigate how much the value of the RRR affects the magnet stability and to identify the proper conductor specifications. In this paper the main results are presented and discussed.