Understanding quench in no-insulation (NI) REBCO magnets through experiments and simulations

Abstract

Present research on no-insulation (NI) rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) magnets have demonstrated their ability to produce high fields due to their compact nature. NI magnets have often been demonstrated to be self-protecting. However, evidence of mechanical damage in recent high field magnets, suggests that there are some issues about quench that must be resolved for this otherwise promising technology. This article attempts to explain multi-physics phenomena occurring during the quench of an NI magnet that can be used to elucidate quench behavior through experiments and simulations. A lumped circuit model is used for the circuit analysis where each coil is modeled as a single inductor with variable quench resistance in series and characteristic contact resistance in parallel. Three case studies have been analyzed: (1) a 3 double pancake (DP) standalone magnet, (2) a 2 DP coil in 31 T background, and (3) a high temperature superconductor/low temperature superconductor (HTS/LTS) hybrid user magnet that consists of a 13 T HTS insert and a 6 T LTS background magnet. Lessons learned from these analyses include: (1) characteristic resistance of NI coil rises during quench with the temperature rise; (2) influence of Hall effect exists on the voltage rise during quench; (3) over-current during quench can over-stress the coil; and (4) quench propagation from one end of the magnet generates significant unbalanced forces. This approach is expected to be used in the preliminary design of an ultra high field (>40 T) user magnet currently under design at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.