Installation of two HL-LHC Connection Cryostats in 11L2 and 11R2

Installation of two HL-LHC Connection Cryostats in 11L2 and 11R2, ready to receive the bypass

Mechanical Consolidation of the LHC Inner Triplet Magnet Supporting System for Remote Alignment

Given the high radiation area and the tight alignment tolerances, the LHC inner triplet magnets were designed to be realigned remotely using motorized supporting jacks. However, during run 2 the LHC triplet realignment system started to show an unexpected behavior with erratic load variations on the magnet supporting jacks when operated. It was then decided to freeze any further realignment of the LHC triplet magnet for the remainder of the run. Subsequently, a project team was set up at CERN to understand better the conditions leading to such unexpected behavior and to study and propose a technical consolidation for the realignment system of the LHC triplet magnet. A fully instrumented magnet string using LHC triplet spare magnets was assembled and used at CERN to provide a realistic test bench for this study. This paper reports on the work undertaken to study the triplet magnet overall realignment kinematic, the findings on the readjustment system malfunction and details the consolidation solution implemented for the next LHC ru

Design and Construction of the Full-Length Prototype of the 11-T Dipole Magnet for the High Luminosity LHC Project at CERN

The luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN requires the installation of additional collimators in the dispersion suppressor regions of the accelerator. The upgrade foresees the installation of one additional collimator on either side of interaction point 7 (IP7) at the location of the existing main dipoles (MBs) that will be replaced by shorter and more powerful dipoles, and of one additional collimator on either side of IP2 at the location of existing empty cryostats. This paper describes the design and the construction status of the full-length prototype of the 11-T dipole magnet, which is needed for IP7. This magnet features a two-in-one structure, like the LHC MB, impregnated coils made of Nb$_{3}$Sn conductor, an inner bore of 60 mm, and a magnetic length of about 5.3 m. Two 11-T magnets are needed to replace a 15-m long MB. A by-pass cryostat placed in between the two magnets allows creating a room temperature space for the additional collimators. The magnet is designed to provide the same integrated field as the MB at nominal field. However, due to the difference in transfer function at lower field, a correction by means of a trim current has been considered. A full-length prototype is currently under construction at CERN with the goal of developing the manufacturing and inspection procedures prior to launch the series production. For this, new tooling has been developed and optimized during the fabrication of fully representative practice coils. This paper describes the design of the magnet, the main manufacturing steps, and corresponding quality indicators, which will be used to monitor the series production. Finally, the production and installation schedule will be presented

Status of the MQXFB Nb3_3Sn quadrupoles for the HL-LHC

The cold powering test of the first two prototypes of the MQXFB quadrupoles (MQXFBP1, now disassembled, and MQXFBP2), the Nb3Sn inner triplet magnets to be installed in the HL-LHC, has validated many features of the design, such as field quality and quench protection, but has found performance limitations. In fact, both magnets showed a similar phenomenology, characterized by reproducible quenches in the straight part inner layer pole turn, with absence of training and limiting the performance at 93% (MQXFBP1) and 98% (MQXFBP2) of the nominal current at 1.9 K, required for HL-LHC operation at 7 TeV. Microstructural inspections of the quenching section of the limiting coil in MQXFBP1 have identified fractured Nb3Sn sub-elements in strands located at one specific position of the inner layer pole turn, allowing to determine the precise origin of the performance limitation. In this paper we outline the strategy that has been defined to address the possible sources of performance limitation, namely coil manufacturing, magnet assembly and integration in the cold mass

Progress in the Development of the Nb3_3Sn MQXFB Quadrupole for the HiLumi Upgrade of the LHC

The high-luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) requires new high field and large-aperture quadrupole magnets for the low-beta inner triplets (MQXF). With a nominal operating gradient of 132.2 T/m in a 150 mm aperture and a conductor peak field of 11.3 T, the new quadrupole magnets are based on Nb3Sn superconducting technology. After a series of short models constructed in close collaboration by LARP (LHC Accelerator Research Program) and CERN, the development program is entering in the series production phase with CERN on one side and the US Accelerator Upgrade Project (US-AUP) on the other side assembling and testing full-length magnets. This paper describes the status of the development activities at CERN, in particular on the cold powering test of the first MQFXB prototype and on the construction of the second full scale prototype. Critical operations such as reaction heat treatment, coil impregnation and magnet assembly are discussed. Finally, the plan towards the series production is described

Progress on the Development of the Nb3SnNb_3Sn 11T Dipole for the High Luminosity Upgrade of LHC

The high-luminosity large hadron collider (LHC) project at CERN entered into the production phase in October 2015 after the completion of the design study phase. In the meantime, the development of the 11 T dipole needed for the upgrade of the collimation system of the machine made significant progress with very good performance of the first two-in-one magnet model of 2-m length made at CERN. The 11 T dipole, which is more powerful than the current main dipoles of LHC, can be made shorter with an equivalent integrated field. This will allow creating space for the installation of additional collimators in specific locations of the dispersion suppressor regions. Following tests carried out during heavy ions runs of LHC in the end of 2015, and a more recent review of the project budget, the installation plan for the 11 T dipole was revised. Consequently, one 11 T dipole full assembly containing two 11 T dipoles of 5.5-m length will be installed on either side of interaction point 7. These two units shall be installed during the long shutdown 2 in years 2019-2020. After a brief reminder on the design features of the magnet, this paper describes the current status of the development activities, in particular the short model programme and the construction of the first full scale prototype at CERN. Critical operations such as the reaction treatment and the coil impregnation are discussed, the quench performance tests results of the two-in-one model are reviewed and finally, the plan toward the production for the long shut down 2 is described

Status of the HIE-ISOLDE Linac

The HIE-ISOLDE project aims at increasing the energy of the radioactive beams (RIB) of REX-ISOLDE from the present 3 MeV/u up to 10 MeV/u for A/q up to 4.5. This will be accomplished by means of a new superconducting linac, based on independently phased quarter wave resonators using the Nb sputtering on copper technology, and working at 101.28 MHz. The focusing elements are superconducting solenoids providing 13.5 T2m field integral. These active elements are contained in a common vacuum cryostat. The presentation will cover the status of advancement of the HIE-ISOLDE linac technical systems. The performance of the superconducting elements will be presented, together with the assembly work of the cryomodule in clean room and the planned qualification tests in the horizontal test facility at CER