A Metallurgical Inspection Method to Assess the Damage in Performance-Limiting Nb3Sn Accelerator Magnet Coils

The design and production of Nb3Sn-based dipole and quadrupole magnets is critical for the realization of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Nb3Sn superconducting coils are aimed at enhancing the bending and focusing strengths of accelerator magnets for HL-LHC and beyond. Due to the brittle nature of Nb3Sn, the coil fabrication steps are very challenging and require very careful QA/QC. Flaws in the Nb3Sn filaments may lead to quenches, and eventually, performance limitation below nominal during magnet testing. A novel inspection method, including advanced non-destructive and destructive techniques, was developed to explore the root-causes of quenches occurring in performance-limiting coils. The most relevant results obtained for MQXF coils through this innovative inspection method are presented. This approach allows for precise assessment of the physical events associated to the quenches experienced b y magnet coils, mainly occurring under the form of damaged strands with transversely broken sub-elements. Coil-slice preparation, micro-optical observations of transverse and longitudinal cross-sections, and a deep etching technique of copper will be illustrated in the present work, with a focus on the results achieved for a CERN coil from a non-conforming quadrupole magnet prototype, and two coils fabricated in the US, in the framework of the Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) collaboration, from two different non-conforming quadrupole magnets, respectively. The results obtained through the proposed inspection method will be illustrated.Comment: Applied Superconductivity Conference 202

Analysis of HQ02 coil cross sections

United States. Department of Energy

Assessment of MQXF Quench Heater Insulation Strength and Test of Modified Design

The HL-LHC interaction region magnet triplets (Q1,Q2, and Q3) will be composed of superconducting Nb3Sn quadru-poles. The MQXF quadrupole protection system is based on CLIQ (Coupling-Loss Induced Quench system) and outer layer quench heaters.This paper reports a summary of quench heaters to coil high voltage tests performed on MQXF short and long coils in air after fabrication, and in air and He gas after magnet training. Breakdown voltage values demonstrate good marginwith respect to the Electrical design criteria for the HL-LHC inner triplet mag-nets. A modification in thequench heater installation-with an ex-tra layer of fiber glass between the coil and the quench heater trace-has been proposed and tested in a mirror magnet to further increase electrical margins. Results demonstrated improvements of high voltage margin at the expense of a clear increase of hot spot temperature.Thebaseline heater to coil insulation was assessed to be able to guarantee safe operation for the Nb3Sn quadrupole mag-nets for the interaction regions of HL-LHC.The HL-LHC interaction region magnet triplets (Q1, Q2, and Q3) will be composed of superconducting Nb3Sn quadrupoles. The MQXF quadrupole protection system is based on CLIQ (Coupling-Loss Induced Quench system) and outer layer quench heaters. This paper reports a summary of quench heaters to coil high voltage tests performed on MQXF short and long coils in air after fabrication, and in air and He gas after magnet training. Breakdown voltage values demonstrate good margin with respect to the Electrical design criteria for the HL-LHC inner triplet magnets. A modification in the quench heater installation- with an extra layer of fiber glass between the coil and the quench heater trace- has been proposed and tested in a mirror magnet to further increase electrical margins. Results demonstrated improvements of high voltage margin at the expense of a clear increase of hot spot temperature. The baseline heater to coil insulation was assessed to be able to guarantee safe operation for the Nb3Sn quadrupole magnets for the interaction regions of HL-LHC

Magnetic Field Measurements of First Pre-series Full-Length 4.2 m Quadrupole MQXFA03 Using PCB Rotating Coils for the Hi-Lumi LHC Project

The U.S. Hi-Lumi LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) and CERN have joined efforts to develop high field quadrupoles for the Hi-Lumi LHC upgrade. The US national laboratories in the AUP project will deliver 10 magnets and each cryostat has two 4.2 m high gradient quadrupoles in it. These magnets are made of Nb3Sn conductors, with large aperture (150 mm) and integrated gradient of 556.9 T. This paper reports on magnetic measurements performed during the vertical test at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in 2019-2020. A warm measurement Z-Scan (+/−15 A) with 42 Z-positions before cool-down was performed at BNL. The results were directly compared to field data measured at LBNL during magnet assembly. Measured harmonics and magnetic center offsets (ΔX and ΔY) have provided timely and informative diagnostics on the magnet structure's shape at both warm and cold temperatures. A new centering fixture was designed and added to better center the warm bore tube which contains the rotating coil probe. After the quench training to 16.47 kA was achieved, a complete set of cold measurements (Z-Scan at 16.47 kA and I-Scan from 960 A to 16.47 kA and back to 960 A) was made. Periodic axial variation of allowed and nonallowed harmonics was observed which is related to the coil radial and/or mid-plane variations along the magnet axis. Overall, the average harmonics in the straight section are within the required field boundaries.The U.S. Hi-Lumi LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) and CERN have joined efforts to develop high field quad-rupoles for the Hi-Lumi LHC upgrade. The US national laborato-ries in the AUP project will deliver 10 magnets and each cryostat has two 4.2 m high gradient quadrupoles in it. These magnets are made of Nb3Sn conductors, with large aperture (150 mm) and in-tegrated gradient of 556.9 T. This paper reports on magnetic measurements performed during the vertical test at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in 2019-2020. A warm measurement Z-Scan (+/- 15 A) with 42 Z-positions before cool-down was per-formed at BNL. The results were directly compared to field data measured at LBNL during magnet assembly. Measured harmonics and magnetic center offsets (ΔX and ΔY) have provided timely and informative diagnostics on the magnet structure’s shape at both warm and cold temperatures. A new centering fixture was de-signed and added to better center the warm bore tube which con-tains the rotating coil probe. After the quench training to 16.47 kA was achieved, a complete set of cold measurements (Z-Scan at 16.47 kA and I-Scan from 960 A to 16.47 kA and back to 960 A) was made. Periodic axial variation of allowed and nonallowed harmonics was observed which is related to the coil radial and/or mid-plane variations along the magnet axis. Overall, the average harmonics in the straight section are within the required field boundaries

Fabrication of first 4-m coils for the LARP MQXFA quadrupole and assembly in mirror structure

United States. Department of Energy