Feasibility of low-mass conductors for toroidal superconducting magnets for SSC detectors

摘要

An earlier study by Luton and Bonanos concluded that the design and fabrication of superconducting toroidal bending magnets would require a major effort but would be feasible. This study is an extension to examine the feasibility of low-mass conductors for such use. It included a literature search, consultations, with conductor manufacturers, and design calculations, but no experimental work. An unoptimized sample design that used a residual resistivity ratio for aluminum of 1360 and a current density of 3.5 kA/cm(sup 2) over the uninsulated conductor for a 4.5-T toroid with 1 GJ of stored energy obtained a hot-spot temperature of 120 K with a maximum dump voltage of 3.6 kV and 24% of the initial current inductively transferred into the shorted aluminum structure. The stability margin was 200 mJ/cm(sup 3) of cable space. Limiting the quench pressure to 360 atm to give conservative stresses in the sheath and assuming that the whole flow path quenched immediately resulted in helium taps that could be a kilometer apart if the flow friction factor were the same as that experienced in the Westinghouse (W) Large Coil Task (LCT) coil. This indicates that the 520-m conductor length of each of the 72 individual coil segments of a toroid would be a single flow path. If some practical uncertainties can be favorably resolved by producing and testing sample conductors, the use of a conductor with clad-aluminum stabilizer and extruded aluminum-alloy sheath should be feasible and economical. 9 refs., 3 figs. (ERA citation 16:001161)