Training-free demonstration of a 5.4 T Nb3Sn Canted–Cosine–Theta accelerator dipole impregnated with paraffin wax

Abstract

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is pursuing stress-managed Nb3Sn Canted–Cosine–Theta (CCT) magnet technology for high field accelerator magnets. Although promising results have been reported, improvements in the training performance are desired. This work describes the fabrication and testing campaigns of two subscale Nb3Sn CCT magnets; a baseline impregnated with National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Mix-61 and a magnet impregnated with paraffin wax. The paraffin magnet reached the short sample limit of the conductor, to within the measurement uncertainty, with no training quenches inside the magnet. In contrast, the baseline magnet reached 80% of the short sample limit after approximately 20 quenches and exhibits some loss of memory after thermal cycles. Inter-layer flexible quench antennas combined with voltage tap data show that all quenches appear identical and originate from a region corresponding to the location of peak field in the cable. Although this success should be replicated at higher fields, these first test results demonstrate the potential for training free Nb3Sn accelerator magnets operating near the short-sample limit.