Performance of Series-Design Prototype Main Quadrupoles for the LHC

After the successful construction of two first-generation prototypes of the main quadrupoles for the LHC, three series-design prototypes have been further manufactured at CEA-Saclay. Together with the sextupole-dipole corrector magnets and tuning quadrupoles, these twin-aperture main quadrupoles are assembled into the cold masses of the so-called short straight sections. Already during their fabrication, the collared coils and later the completed cold masses undergo warm magnetic measurements. Two of the main quadrupole cold masses have been mounted into their definitive machine cryostats and submitted to training and magnetic measurements. This paper presents the results of these cold tests by describing the quench behaviour, the transfer function in each of the apertures and the multipole components found at different levels of excitation. The field quality results, in cold conditions, will be compared to those measured at room temperatur

Performance of Prototypes and Start up of Series Fabrication of the LHC Arc Quadrupoles

The construction of three prototype arc quadrupoles for the LHC machine has been concluded successfully. These magnets underwent warm and cold magnetic measurements as well as many other tests, both in CEA-Saclay's laboratory and at CERN. Their training qualifies them for use in the LHC machine and their measured field quality points to only very minor corrections. An excellent correlation is found between warm and cold magnetic measurements. The prototype quadrupole design has been fully retained for the series fabrication of the 400 magnets and their cold masses by industry. This paper describes the main tests and measurement results of all three prototypes. It further explains the logistics for the manufacturing of the series of cold masses. These cold masses contain not only the main quadrupole but also different combinations of corrector magnets. Thus, together with variants imposed by the cryogenic configuration of the machine, 40 different types of cold masses have to be fabricated by the firm, to which the contract has been adjudicated

Performance of the LHC Arc Superconducting Quadrupoles Towards the End of their Series Fabrication

The fabrication of the 408 main arc quadrupole magnets and their cold masses will come to an end in summer 2006. A rich collection of measurement and test data has been accumulated and their analysis is presented in this paper. These data cover the fabrication and the efficiency in the use of the main components, the geometrical measurements and the achieved dimensional precision, the warm magnetic measurements in the factory and the performance at cold conditions, especially the training behaviour. The scrap rate of the Nb-Ti/Cu conductor as well as that of other components turned out to be acceptably low and the quench performance measured was in general very good. Most quadrupoles measured so far exceeded the operating field gradient with one or no quench. The multipole content at cold was measured for a limited number of quadrupoles in order to verify the warm-to-cold correlation. From the point of view of field quality, all quadrupoles could be accepted for the machine. The measures taken to overcome the problem of a too high permeability of a batch of collars are discussed

Magnet Acceptance and Allocation at the LHC Magnet Evaluation Board

The normal and superconducting magnets for the LHC ring have been carefully examined to insure that each of about 1900 assemblies is suitable for the operation in the accelerator. Hardware experts and accelerator physicists have contributed to this work that consisted in magnet acceptance, and sorting according to geometry, field quality and quench level. This paper gives a description of the magnet approval mechanism that has been running since four years, reporting in a concise summary the main results achieved

Modeling of Electromagnetic NDE of Civil Structures

The inspection of civil structures, such as bridge decks, roadways and masonry is becoming an increasingly important area for the application of NDE methodologies. A variety of methods have been used for detecting flaws, cracks and voids as well as locating structural features such as reinforcing bars and tensioning cables. The large size of civil structures necessitates the use of an NDE technique that is capable of rapid inspection of large areas with good penetration. A candidate approach for such inspection is the microwave NDT method. Microwave energy penetrates dielectric materials such as those encountered in civil structures and consequently inspection can be accomplished using noncontact devices mounted on a fast scanning mechanism. The paper presents a numerical model for simulating electromagnetic scattering from two and three dimensional objects embedded in large structures. Such models are useful in the design and development of systems required for microwave imaging of civil structures.</p

Design of an optical position detection unit for fast 2D-MOEMS scanners

Recently, we have developed compact modules comprising optical position sensing, and driver electronics, with closed loop control, which can measure the trajectory of resonantly driven 2D-micro-scanner mirrors. In this contribution we present the optical design of the position sensing unit and highlight various critical aspects. Basically position encoding is obtained using trigger signals generated when a fast photodiode is hit by a laser beam reflected from the backside of the mirror. This approach can also be used in the case of 2D-mirrors. In our device the backside of the mirror is hit by two crossed orthogonal laser beams, whose reflections pass cylindrical mirrors in order to suppress the orthogonal dimension. Mirror deflection around one axis is compensated at the plane of the detection diodes while deflection around the other axis leads to a linear displacement of the beam. The optical design of the unit has to provide the optimal compromise between the require ments for small size and simplicity on the one hand and optical accuracy on the other

MOEMS Based Laser Scanner for Light-driven Microfluidics

AbstractIn this paper we report on recent experiments using laser controlled thermally induced flows in a microfluidic cell. Control of the laser focus was achieved using MOEMS-technology which offers the possibility for a compact and easy to use variable focus scanning device. In our paper we present the scanner device and show first experimental results indicating possible applications in the field of microfluidics