Progress in the design and manufacturing of the EDIPO 2 cryostat

Abstract

A major upgrade of the European DIPOle (EDIPO) test facility, which will allow the testing of superconducting samples both for fusion and for high-energy physics applications, is taking place at the Swiss Plasma Center. With a target background field of 15 T, the new magnet design requires a large engineering current density and thus an accelerator-like magnet cooled by a saturated helium bath is foreseen. Therefore, a helium vessel has been designed and procured.In this work, we present recent advances in the design and manufacturing activities of the EDIPO 2 cryostat. First, we provide an analytical estimation of the thermal budget at the temperature levels of interest. Then, we describe the design and manufacturing of the helium vessel, according to relevant norms. Finite-element numerical simulations are employed both to refine the design and to provide a comparison with the experimental pressure tests.