Design of a 10-T superconducting dipole magnet using niobium-tin conductor

Abstract

In order to minimize the size and cost of conventional facilities - land, tunneling, shielding, cryogenic and vacuum system - the dipole magnets for the next generation of particle accelerators must produce as strong a magnetic field as possible. Ten tesla seems to be a reasonable goal, and can be attained by using either niobium-tin conductor at 4.2 K or niobium-titanium at 1.8 K. The beam diameter in a multi-TeV accelerator, can in principle, be quite small, say 20 mm, depending on the design of the injection and extraction systems, and on beam-cooling technology. Magnet cost is strongly dependent on bore diameter, so there is a strong incentive to minimize that. We believe that a 40-mm bore diameter - about 60-mm winding inside diameter is feasible and is a reasonable goal for initial research and development. For such a high field and small bore, there is an incentive to achieve a high overall current density in order to minimize the amount of superconductor. Our design is based on an overall current density of 400 A/sq mm. LBL has undertaken the development of a magnet using niobium-tin conductor intended to meet the above specifications. The conductor is a Rutherford-type cable consisting more » of twelve strands of 1.71-mm-dia wire. Dimensions of the uninsulated cable are 11.0 x 3.0 mm. The configuration chosen consists of flat race-track layers - four per pole - with the ends bent up and down to clear the bore. Two coils are wound from a single piece of cable with a cross-over at the inside: the familiar double pancake arrangement. « less