Development of design allowable data for Celion 6000/LARC-160, graphite/polyimide composite laminates

A design allowables test program was conducted on Celion 6000/LARC-160 graphite polyimide composite to establish material performance over a 116 K (-250 F) to 589 K (600 F) temperature range. Tension, compression, in-plane shear and short beam shear properties were determined for uniaxial, quasi-isotropic and + or - 45 deg laminates. Effects of thermal aging and moisture saturation on mechanical properties were also evaluated. Celion 6000/LARC-160 graphite/polyimide can be considered an acceptable material system for structural applications to 589 K (600 F)

AC Loss and Contact Resistance In Copper-Stabilized Nb3Al Rutherford Cables with and without a Stainless Steel Core

Calorimetric measurements of AC loss and hence interstrand contact resistance (ICR), were measured on three samples of Rutherford cable wound with Cu-stabilized jelly-roll type unplated Nb3Al strand. One of the cable types was furnished with a thin core of AISI 316L stainless steel and the other two were both uncored but insulated in different ways. The cables were subjected to a room-temperature-applied uniaxial pressure of 12 MPa that was maintained during the reaction heat treatment (RHT), then vacuum impregnated with CTD 101 epoxy, and repressurized to 100 MPa during AC-loss measurement. The measurements were performed at 4.2 K in a sinusoidal field of amplitude 400 mT at frequencies of 1 to 90 mHz (no DC-bias field) that was applied both perpendicular and parallel to the face of the cable (the face-on, FO, and edge-on, EO, directions, respectively). For the cored cable the FO-measured effective ICR (FO-ICR), was 5.27 . Those for the uncored cables were less than 0.08 . As shown previously for NbTi- and Nb3Sn-based Rutherford cables, the FO-ICR can be significantly increased by the insertion of a core, although in this case it is still below the range recommended for accelerator-magnet use. Post-measurement dissection of one of the cables showed that the impregnating resin had permeated between the strands and coated the core with a thin, insulating layer excepting for some sintered points of contact. In the uncored cables the strands were coated with resin except for the points of interstrand contact. It is suggested that in the latter case this tendency for partial coating leads to a processing-sensitive FO-ICR.Comment: Four pages, with two figure

The evolution of tooling, techniques, and quality control for accelerator dipole magnet cables

The present generation of particle accelerators are utilizing the flattened, compacted, single layer cable design introduced nearly 20 years ago at Rutherford Laboratory. However, the requirements for current density, filament size, dimensional control long lengths, and low current degradation are much more stringent for the present accelerators compared with the earlier Tevatron and HERA accelerators. Also, in order to achieve higher field strengths with efficient use of superconductor, the new designs require wider cables with more strands. These requirements have stimulated an active research effort which has led to significant improvements in critical current density and conductor manufacturing. In addition they have stimulated the development of new cabling techniques, improved tooling, and better measurement techniques. The need to produce over 20 million meters of cable has led to the development of high speed cabling machines and on-line quality assurance measurements. These new developments will be discussed, and areas still requiring improvement will be identified

Development of Superconducting Strang and Cable with Improved Properties for Use in SSC Magnets

The critical current requirement for the NbTi superconductor strand was set at 2750 A/mm{sup 2} (5 T, 4.2 K) in the SSC Conceptual Design, compared with a value of 1800 A/mm{sup 2} which was specified for the strand used in the Tevatron dipoles. In addition, a filament diameter of 5 {micro}m, instead of the 9 {micro}m diameter used in the Tevatron. was chosen to reduce field distonion at injection. In order to meet the requirements for field homogeneity, the dimensional requirements for both strand and cable were also tightened. The technical solutions employed to achieve these improved properties and the resulting specifications will be discussed

Recent improvements in superconducting cable for accelerator dipole magnets

The superconducting magnets required for the SSC have provided a focus and substantial challenge for the development of superconducting wire and cable. The number of strands in the cables have been increased from 23 for the Tevatron to 30 for the SSC inner layer cable and 36 for the SSC outer cable. Critical current degradation associated with cabling has been reduced from 15% for the Tevatron to less than 5%. R D which has led to these improvements will be described and the opportunities for further advances will be discussed. 11 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab