Determination of interstrand contact resistance from loss and field measurements in LHC dipole prototypes and correlation with measurements on cable samples

Loss and field errors due to ramping in LHC accelerator dipole magnets are mainly determined by the contact resistance between the strands of the magnet cable. It is therefore important to develop cables having sufficiently high contact resistance in the magnets in order to ease operation of the future LHC collider during ramping. In this paper the contact resistance Rc and its distribution in the magnet windings are determined for several dipole prototypes using both the measured loss and field errors during ramping of the magnet. We compare these results with interstrand contact resistance measurements made on short samples of the cables used in these magnets

Coil Size and Geometric Field Quality in Short Model Dipoles for LHC

We have measured the magnetic field at room temperature and at 1.8 K on more than twenty, 1-m long, single aperture LHC superconducting dipole models. The magnets feature either a 5-block coil geometry or the baseline 6-block geometry foreseen for the LHC. Comparison of warm and cold measurements show that the coil geometry is essentially unchanged during cooldown. We have therefore used mechanical measurements taken on the coil and collars during assembly to estimate the azimuthal coil length. Based on these measurements we show here that the sensitivity of allowed harmonics on coil size is in good agreement with the prediction obtained from the numerical model used for designing the LHC magnets

A VME-based LabVIEW system for the magnetic measurements of the LHC prototype dipoles

A magnetic measurement system based on a set of rotating harmonic coils has been integrated together with the coil positioning and rotation control, the associated data acquisition and the power supply control using a PC. This PC is a mono-board VME module with its networking connection, local hard disk and serial interfaces. The PC communicates with its peripheral devices (the controller embedded in the power converter, the coil positioning PLC and the coil rotation hardware) via RS-232C lines and acquires data using VME modules: in-house designed voltage integrators for the magnetic measurement and a commercial ADC for real-time measurements. The software is a LabVIEW application: it handles and synchronizes the peripheral devices of the measurement system and the real-time tasks related to the data acquisition; it constitutes a man-machine interface for the operator and also directly stores field maps onto a file server. The system is operational on the test benches and has proved reliable, user-friendly and performed as expected.

The Measurement Bench for the LHC Spool Corrector Magnets in Industry

The LHC accelerator will be equipped with more than 3500 superconducting spool corrector magnets. CERN has awarded the contract for the series production and testing of these corrector magnets to industry. Magnetic field measurements are done at the factory. Dedicated magnetic measurement benches have been built to test these corrector magnets in the resistive state at room temperature. The benches allow to measure the strength of the main field, normal and skew harmonics, the magnetic axis position and orientation of the main field with respect to the mechanical reference points of the magnet. This paper presents the objectives, a description and the performances obtained with the benches during first measurements at industry

Loss and Dynamic Magnetic Field Measurements in LHC Dipoles

Knowledge of AC loss and dynamic magnetic field distortion in the main LHC dipoles is both important for the assessment of the accelerator performance and providing insight into the properties of assembled magnets. We measured the loss due to the current cycling in a few 1-meter long model dipoles, 15-meter long dipole prototypes and pre-series magnets. As expected the loss depends linearly on the rate of the current change. From the slope of this dependence, the contact resistance between the strands of the opposite layers of the cable, Rc, was evaluated for the inner winding of the dipole. We discuss the method to estimate the Rc value in the outer winding. The Rc value has been also derived independently from measurements of the magnetic field. For this, the ramp rate dependent component of the main field as well as of the harmonics has been measured. The main magnetic field measurements were performed using both stationary coils and Hall probes. Rotating coils were used to perform the harmonic measurements

The Test Facility for the Short Prototypes of the LHC Superconducting Magnets

The LHC development program relies on cryogenic tests of prototype and model magnets. This vigorous program is pursued in a dedicated test facility based on several vertical cryostats working at superfluid helium temperatures. The performance of the facility is detailed. Goals and test equipment for currently performed studies are reviewed: quench analysis and magnet protection studies, measurement of the field quality, test of ancillary electrical equipment like diodes and busbars. The paper covers the equipment available for tests of prototypes and some special series of LHC magnets to come

Power Test Results of the First LHC Second Generation Superconducting Single Aperture 1m Long Dipole Models

Within the LHC magnet research and development programme, a series of single aperture 1m long models of second generation are presently being built and tested at CERN. The main features of these magnets are: five-block, two layer coils wound from 15mm wide graded NbTi cables, enlarged 56mm aperture and all-polyimide insulation. This paper reviews the power test data of magnets tested to date in both supercritical and superfluid helium. The results of the quench training, the initial location and propagation of quenches and their sensitivity to energy extraction are presented and discussed in terms of the design parameters and the aims of this short dipole model test program

Field Quality of the Short Superconducting Dipole Models for the LHC

A full characterization of the magnetic field in warm and cold conditions was performed as a part of the standard test on the LHC 1-m long superconducting dipole models. Furthermore, dedicated measurement campaigns addressed the effect of current cycles and quenches on field quality. Powering and quenches were found to generate characteristic instabilities in the geometric harmonics. Detailed results are presented on this phenomenon, as well as correlations between warm and cold measurements and field reconstructions

Measurements of the LHC Corrector Magnets at Room and Cryogenic Temperatures

The superconducting twin aperture main dipole magnets of the LHC accelerator are equipped with pairs of sextupole and decapole correctors at their ends. Similarly, octupole correctors are aligned at t he end of the main quadrupole magnets. Dedicated stations have been built for tests of these correctors at room temperature as well as superfluid helium temperature. Measurements of the training behav iour and of the magnetic field quality are routinely performed. The search for the magnetic axis and the transfer of its position to fiducials are performed at room temperature. A description and the performances obtained with these two benches are also presented