Self-Organized Criticality

protons/beam. The energy stored in one beam is 350 MJ, more than seven orders of magnitude above the quench limit of a superconducting magnet. After briefly recalling the challenges and design choices of the machine, status and future prospects are discussed.

https://epaper.kek.jp/e02/papers/moxgb003.pdf

Status of the lhc

The main lattice of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) employs about 1600 main magnets and more than 4000 corrector magnets. All superconducting and working in pressurized superfluid helium bath, these impressive line of magnets fills more than 20 km of the underground tunnel. With almost 70 main dipoles already delivered and 10 main quadrupoles almost completed, we passed the 5% of the production and now all manufacturers have fully entered into series production. In this paper the most critical issues encountered in the ramping up in such a real large scale fabrication is addressed; uniformity of the coil size and of prestress, special welding technique, tolerances on curvature (dipoles) or straightness (quadrupoles) and of the cold mass extremities, harmonic content and, most important, the integrated field uniformity among magnets. The actual limits and the solution for improvements are discussed. Finally a realistic schedule based on actual achievements is presented.

/pdf/superconducting-magnets-for-the-lhc-main-lattice-4kzohcj0ah.pdf

Superconducting magnets for the LHC main lattice

Superconductivity has been the most influential technology in the field of accelerators in the last 30 years. Since the commissioning of the Tevatron, which demonstrated the use and operability of superconductivity on a large scale, superconducting magnets and rf cavities have been at the heart of all new large accelerators. Superconducting magnets have been the invariable choice for large colliders, as well as cyclotrons and large synchrotrons. In spite of the long history of success, superconductivity remains a difficult technology, requires adequate RD it highlights the main characteristics and main achievements, and gives a perspective on the development of superconducting magnets for the future generation of very high energy colliders.

/pdf/superconducting-magnets-for-particle-accelerators-4iny33x9rw.pdf

Superconducting Magnets for Particle Accelerators

One of the main issues for the operation of the LHC accelerator at CERN is the field errors generated by persistent and coupling currents in the main dipoles at injection conditions, i.e., 0.54 T dipole field. For this reason we are conducting systematic magnetic field measurements to quantify the above effects and compare them to the expected values from measurement on strands and cables. We discuss the results in terms of DC effects from persistent current magnetization, AC effects with short time constant from strand and cable coupling currents, and long-term decay during constant current excitation. Average and spread of the measured field errors over the population of magnets tested are as expected or smaller. Field decay at injection, and subsequent snap-back, show for the moment the largest variation from magnet to magnet, with weak correlation to parameters that can be controlled during production. For this reason these effects are likely to result in the largest spread of field errors over the whole dipole production.

/pdf/persistent-and-coupling-current-effects-in-the-lhc-3ub8w8szt4.pdf

Persistent and coupling current effects in the LHC superconducting dipoles

The regular lattice of the large Hadron collider (LHC) will make use of more than 1600 main magnets and about 7600 corrector magnets, all superconducting and working in pressurized superfluid helium bath. This complex magnet system will fill more than 20 km of the LHC underground tunnel. In this paper an overview of the cold test program and quality assurance plan to qualify all LHC superconducting magnets will be presented. The quench training performance of more than 1100 LHC main dipoles and about 300 main quadrupoles, cold tested to date, will be reviewed. From these results an estimate of the number of quenches that will be required to start operation of the whole machine at nominal energy will be discussed. The energy level at which the machine could be operated at the early phase of the commissioning without being disturbed by training quenches will be addressed. The LHC magnet program required the development of many new tools and techniques for the testing of superconducting magnet coils, magnet protection systems, cryogenics, and instrumentation. This paper will also present a summary of this development work and the results achieved.

/pdf/review-of-quench-performance-of-lhc-main-superconducting-4asulf1kp3.pdf

Review of Quench Performance of LHC Main Superconducting Magnets

Within the LHC magnet program, a series of six, final design, full-scale superconducting dipole prototypes are presently being built in industry and tested at CERN. The main features of these magnets are: two-in-one structure, 56 mm aperture, six-block two layer coils wound from 15.1 mm wide graded NbTi cables, and all-polyimide insulation. This paper reviews the main test results of magnets tested at 4.2 K and 1.8 K. The results of the quench training, conductor performance, magnet protection, sensitivity to ramp rate and field quality are presented and discussed in terms of the design parameters and the aims of the full scale dipole prototype program.

/pdf/performance-of-the-lhc-final-design-full-scale-hq58mocc97.pdf

Performance of the LHC final design full scale superconducting dipole prototypes

Premature training quenches are usually caused by the transient energy released within the magnet coil as it is energised. Two distinct varieties of disturbances exist. They are thought to be electrical and mechanical in origin. The first type of disturbance comes from nonuniform current distribution in superconducting cables whereas the second one usually originates from conductor motions or micro-fractures of insulating materials under the action of Lorentz forces. All of these mechanical events produce in general a rapid variation of the voltages in the so-called quench antennas and across the magnet coil, called spikes. A statistical method to treat the spatial localisation and the time occurrence of spikes is presented. It allows identification of the mechanical weak points in the magnet without need to increase the current to provoke a quench. The prediction of the quench level from detailed analysis of the spike statistics can be expected.

/pdf/statistical-diagnosis-method-of-conductor-motions-in-26xlc098yj.pdf

Statistical diagnosis method of conductor motions in superconducting magnets to predict their quench performance

The preseries production of the LHC main superconducting dipoles is presently being tested at CERN. The foremost features of these magnets are: twin structure, six block two layer coils wound from 15.1 mm wide graded NbTi cables, 56 mm aperture, polyimide insulation and stainless steel collars. The paper reviews the main test results of magnets tested to day in both normal and superfluid helium. The results of training performance, magnet protection, electrical integrity and the field quality are presented in terms of the specifications and expected performance of these magnets in the future accelerator.

/pdf/quench-performance-and-field-quality-of-the-lhc-preseries-1q5radqnkw.pdf

Quench performance and field quality of the LHC preseries superconducting dipoles

Within the LHC cryo-dipole program, six full-scale superconducting prototypes of final design were built in collaboration between Industry and CERN, followed by launching the manufacture of pre-series magnets. Five prototypes and the first of the pre-series magnets were tested at CERN. This paper reviews the main features and the performance of the cryo-dipoles tested at 4.2 K and 1.8 K. The results of the quench training, conductor performance, magnet protection, sensitivity to ramp rate and field characteristics are presented and discussed in terms of the design parameters.

/pdf/performance-of-the-lhc-final-prototype-and-first-pre-series-puq1jqc5q7.pdf

P. Pugnat

Papers

Review of Quench Performance of LHC Main Superconducting Magnets

Performance of the LHC final design full scale superconducting dipole prototypes

Statistical diagnosis method of conductor motions in superconducting magnets to predict their quench performance

Quench performance and field quality of the LHC preseries superconducting dipoles

Performance of the LHC final prototype and first pre-series superconducting dipole magnets