Electronic Systems for the Protection of Superconducting Elements in the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider LHC, currently under construction at CERN, will incorporate an unprecedented number of superconducting magnets, busbars and current leads. As most of these elements depend on active protection in case of a transition from the superconducting to the resistive state, the so-called quench, a protection system based on modern, state of the art electronics has been developed

Time transfer using NAVSTAR GPS

A time transfer unit (TTU) developed for the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) has consistently demonstrated the transfer of time with accuracies much better than 100 nanoseconds. A new time transfer system (TTS), the TTS 502 was developed. The TTS 502 is a relatively compact microprocessor-based system with a variety of options that meet each individual's requirements, and has the same performance as the USNO system. The time transfer performance of that USNO system and the details of the new system are presented

Experimental Analysis and Modeling of the Electrical and Thermal Transients of the Diode-By-pass for the LHC- Magnet Protection at Cryogenic Temperatures

For the protection of the LHC superconducting lattice magnets cold bypass diodes will be installed inside the magnet cryostat, subjecting them to superfluid helium temperatures and radiation. During a magnet quench, the power generated in the diode must be dissipated in the adjacent heat sinks of copper that are part of the diode package. Results from endurance tests on the diode package are presented. A simple thermo-electric model has been developed to simulate the thermal and electrical transients in the diode package during the endurance pulse. Simulation results are in good agreement with the measured temperatures

Mathieu beams as versatile light moulds for 3D micro particle assemblies

We present tailoring of three dimensional light fields which act as light moulds for elaborate particle micro structures of variable shapes. Stereo microscopy is used for visualization of the 3D particle assemblies. The powerful method is demonstrated for the class of propagation invariant beams, where we introduce the use of Mathieu beams as light moulds with non-rotationally-symmetric structure. They offer multifarious field distributions and facilitate the creation of versatile particle structures. This general technique may find its application in micro fluidics, chemistry, biology, and medicine, to create highly efficient mixing tools, for hierarchical supramolecular organization or in 3D tissue engineering

Effect of field of view and monocular viewing on angular size judgements in an outdoor scene

Observers typically overestimate the angular size of distant objects. Significantly, overestimations are greater in outdoor settings than in aircraft visual-scene simulators. The effect of field of view and monocular and binocular viewing conditions on angular size estimation in an outdoor field was examined. Subjects adjusted the size of a variable triangle to match the angular size of a standard triangle set at three greater distances. Goggles were used to vary the field of view from 11.5 deg to 90 deg for both monocular and binocular viewing. In addition, an unrestricted monocular and binocular viewing condition was used. It is concluded that neither restricted fields of view similar to those present in visual simulators nor the restriction of monocular viewing causes a significant loss in depth perception in outdoor settings. Thus, neither factor should significantly affect the depth realism of visual simulators

Detection of Resistive Transitions in LHC Superconducting Components

The LHC has entered the construction phase. It will incorporate a large number of superconducting components like magnets, current leads and busbars. All these components require protection means in case of a transition from the superconducting to the resistive state, the so-called quench. Key elements in the protection system are electronic quench detectors, which have to be able to identify a quench in any state of the powering cycle of the accelerator. According to the different properties and characteristics of the superconducting elements and circuits, a set of quench detectors adapted to their specific tasks has been developed

Radiation Tolerance of Components Used in the Protection System of LHC Superconducting Elements

A selection of electronic devices to be used for the protection of superconducting elements of the Large Hadron Collider LHC has been submitted to functional tests in the CERN TCC2 irradiation test facility. The results confirm the validity of the various designs, which are entirely based on COTS (Components-Off-The-Shelf)

Irradiation Tests at Cryogenic Temperatures on Diffusion Type Diodes for the LHC Superconducting Magnet Protection

Within the framework of the LHC magnet protection system, the irradiation hardness of high current by-pass diodes is subject to examination. The relocation of these diodes and recent calculations give rather low irradiation levels for the position of the diodes. This offers the possibility to replace the originally foreseen epitaxial type diodes by diffusion type diodes. Therefore, different types of 75mm diffusion diodes were submitted to an irradiation test program. One part of the experiments was performed in the Munich Research Reactor. Further irradiation tests were carried out in the northern fixed target area of the SPS accelerator at CERN

Reliability analysis for the quench detection in the LHC machine

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will incorporate a large amount of superconducting elements that require protection in case of a quench. Key elements in the quench protection system are the electronic quench detectors. Their reliability will have an important impact on the down time as well as on the operational cost of the collider. The expected rates of both false and missed quenches have been computed for several redundant detection schemes. The developed model takes account of the maintainability of the system to optimise the frequency of foreseen checks, and evaluate their influence on the performance of different detection topologies. Seen the uncertainty of the failure rate of the components combined with the LHC tunnel environment, the study has been completed with a sensitivity analysis of the results. The chosen detection scheme and the maintainability strategy for each detector family are given