Study of Mechanical Disturbances in Superconducting Magnets using Piezoelectric Sensors and Quench Antenna

Mechanical disturbances in superconducting magnets were studied by recording and characterising the signals induced in piezo-electric ceramic sensors (piezos) and accelerometers by spontaneous acoustic emission (AE) during magnet excitation. The localisation of AE sources as recorded by the piezos corresponds to the localisation obtained by another, indirect technique, the so-called Quench Antenna. Dominant acoustic wave velocities along the magnet were measured by using selected piezos as active actuators. A mechanical disturbance energy calibration is shown and a way to estimate the minimum energy needed for quenching is proposed. A statistical approach is given in order to estimate the most probable amplitude of AE

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

A Demonstration Experiment for the Main Field Tracking and the Sextupole and Decapole Compensation in the LHC Main Magnets

A dedicated measurement campaign was set up to test the FiDeL concept and its LSA implementation. The test was performed by demonstrating the tracking of B1 and B2 for two LHC main dipoles and one LHC main quadrupole. It also included the compensation of the b3 and b5 harmonics in the dipole magnets using the sextupole and decapole corrector magnets. In this report we present the techniques developed to power the magnets for these tests during the current ramps; the instrumentation and data acquisition setup used to perform the tracking experiments; the calibration procedure and data corrections employed; and finally the main results obtained

Main Field Tracking Measurement in the LHC Superconducting Dipole and Quadrupole Magnets

One of the most stringent requirements during the energy ramp of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is to have a constant ratio between dipole-quadrupole and dipole-dipole field so as to control the variation of the betatron tune and of the beam orbit throughout the acceleration phase, hence avoiding particle loss. To achieve the nominal performance of the LHC, a maximum variation of ±0.003 tune units can be tolerated. For the commissioning with low intensity beams, acceptable bounds are up to 30 times higher. For the quadrupole-dipole integrated field ratio, the above requirements translate in the tight windows of 6 ppm and 180 ppm, while for dipole differences between sectors the acceptable error is of the order of 10^-4. Measurement and control at this level are challenging. For this reason we have launched a dedicated measurement R&D to demonstrate that these ratios can be measured and controlled within the limits for machine operation. In this paper we present the techniques developed to power the magnets during the current ramps, the instrumentation and data acquisition setup used to perform the tracking experiments, the calibration procedure and the data reduction employed

A Semantic Portal for the International Affairs Sector

The Royal Institute Elcano(dagger) (Real Instituto Elcano) in Spain is a prestigious independent political institute whose mission is to comment on the political situation in the world focusing on its relation to Spain. As part of its dissemination strategy it operates a public website. The online content can be accessed by navigating through categories or by a keyword-based, full text search engine. The work described in this paper aims at improving access to the content. We describe an approach, tools and techniques that allow building a semantic portal, where access is based on the meaning of concepts and relations of the International Affairs domain. The approach comprises an automatic ontology-based annotator, a semantic search engine with a natural language inter-face, a web publication tool allowing semantic navigation, and a 3D visualization component. The semantic portal is currently being tested by the Institute

Test Results of a Variant-Design LHC Twin-Aperture Dipole Magnet

Since 1989, KEK and CERN carried out jointly an experimental program in the frame of the R&D work for the LHC main dipole. The mechanical structure of this design is based on a separate coil/collar and "horizontally split iron" concept. A total of four single aperture and two twin-aperture 1 m long dipole magnets were built. The last twin-aperture magnet was tested at CERN, reaching a maximum field of 9.55 T at 1.9 K. This paper reports the magnet training performance and quench localization at 1.9 K and 4.5 K. The performance as a function of current ramp rate and measurements of the field quality are also reported

A demonstration experiment for the main field tracking and the sextupole and decapole compensation in the LHC main magnets

A dedicated measurement campaign was set up to test the FiDeL concept and its LSA implementation. The test was performed by demonstrating the tracking of B1 and B2 for two LHC main dipoles and one LHC main quadrupole. It also included the compensation of the b3 and b5 harmonics in the dipole magnets using the sextupole and decapole corrector magnets. In this report we present the techniques developed to power the magnets for these tests during the current ramps; the instrumentation and data acquisition setup used to perform the tracking experiments; the calibration procedure and data corrections employed; and finally the main results obtained.peer-reviewe

Using social network sites in Higher Education: An experience in business studies

In the past 5 years the impact of Web 2.0 in new generations has been remarkably significant (Pew Research Center, 2010). This paper reports on an experience in the use of Social Network Sites (SNS) to support student involvement with the subject and to develop basic skills. According to students’ opinion, the experience was deemed as positive. They considered that the experience contributed to a higher engagement with the subject and a deeper collaboration with other students and teaching staff. As a result, the majority of students would prefer the use of SNS as a first option if they had to enrol again in the subject. Regarding the relationships between academic performance and use of the SNS, two different student profiles were identified based on usage patterns of the platform. Students with a more intensive use of the site showed a significantly better performance than students with a low usage profile.This work was partially supported by the Junta de Andalucía – FEDER (Proyectos de Excelencia: SEJ-02670

Main field tracking measurement in the LHC superconducting dipole and quadrupole magnets

One of the most stringent requirements during the energy ramp of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is to have a constant ratio between dipole-quadrupole and dipole-dipole field so as to control the variation of the betatron tune and of the beam orbit throughout the acceleration phase, hence avoiding particle loss. To achieve the nominal performance of the LHC, a maximum variation of ±0.003 tune units can be tolerated. For the commissioning with low intensity beams, acceptable bounds are up to 30 times higher. For the quadrupole-dipole integrated field ratio, the above requirements translate in the tight windows of 6 ppm and 180 ppm, while for dipole differences between sectors the acceptable error is of the order of 10^-4. Measurement and control at this level are challenging. For this reason we have launched a dedicated measurement R&D to demonstrate that these ratios can be measured and controlled within the limits for machine operation. In this paper we present the techniques developed to power the magnets during the current ramps, the instrumentation and data acquisition setup used to perform the tracking experiments, the calibration procedure and the data reduction employed.peer-reviewe

Performance of the Main Dipole Magnet Circuits of the LHC during Commissioning

During hardware commissioning of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 8 main dipole circuits are tested at 1.9 K and up to their nominal current. Each dipole circuit contains 154 magnets of 15 m length, and has a total stored energy of up to 1.3 GJ. All magnets are wound from Nb-Ti superconducting Rutherford cables, and contain heaters to quickly force the transition to the normal conducting state in case of a quench, and hence reduce the hot spot temperature. In this paper the performance of the first three of these circuits is presented, focussing on quench detection, heater performance, operation of the cold bypass diodes, and magnet-to-magnet quench propagation. The results as measured on the entire circuits will be compared to the test results obtained during the reception tests of the individual magnets