Fabrication and test of a racetrack magnet using pre-reacted Nb3Sn cable

摘要

A racetrack magnet, using Nb3Sn superconducting cable reacted before winding, has been fabricated and tested at Fermilab. It consists of two flat racetrack coils, connected in a common-coil configuration, separated by a 5 mm thick fiberglass plate. Synthetic oil was used to prevent sintering of the strands during the heat treatment. The coils were wound and vacuum impregnated in the mechanical structure. The turn-to-turn insulation, consisting of Kapton? and pre-impregnated fiberglass tapes as wide as the cable, was wound together with the bare cable in order to form a continuous inter-turn spacer. The coils were instrumented with voltage taps, temperature sensors, spot heaters and quench heaters. The maximum current achieved was 12675A which is 78% of the short sample limit at 5.1 K (minimum temperature in the coil during 75 A/s ramp). Measurement of the temperature margin revealed a low degradation in the innermost turns. Quench performances at different temperatures and ramp rate effects have been measured and are presented and discussed.