Summary
This paper presents quench protection analysis for next-generation 11-T Nb₃Sn dipole magnets being developed by Fermilab and CERN for the LHC upgrade. The researchers validated numerical models of quench behaviour, heater design, and thermal propagation against experimental data from short-model dipoles, then applied the validated model to predict performance under full-scale LHC operating conditions. The work addresses a significant engineering challenge: protecting high-field, low-copper-fraction superconducting magnets from the large stored energies released during quench events.
UK applicability
This is fundamental physics infrastructure research relevant to UK participation in CERN and international high-energy physics collaborations. The findings directly apply to UK scientists and engineers involved in LHC upgrade projects and superconducting magnet technology development.
Key measures
Quench protection heater efficiency, quench propagation characteristics, coil heating profiles, current decay rates, hot-spot temperature predictions
Outcomes reported
The study analysed quench protection mechanisms for 11-T Nb₃Sn dipole magnets, including heater design efficiency, quench propagation, and coil heating responses. Numerical models were validated against experimental data from 2-m-long dipole prototypes and used to predict current decay and hot-spot temperatures under LHC operating conditions.
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