No Arabic abstract
In the years 2009-2013 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been operated with the top beam energies of 3.5 TeV and 4 TeV per proton (from 2012) instead of the nominal 7 TeV. The currents in the superconducting magnets were reduced accordingly. To date only seventeen beam-induced quenches have occurred; eight of them during specially designed quench tests, the others during injection. There has not been a single beam- induced quench during normal collider operation with stored beam. The conditions, however, are expected to become much more challenging after the long LHC shutdown. The magnets will be operating at near nominal currents, and in the presence of high energy and high intensity beams with a stored energy of up to 362 MJ per beam. In this paper we summarize our efforts to understand the quench levels of LHC superconducting magnets. We describe beam-loss events and dedicated experiments with beam, as well as the simulation methods used to reproduce the observable signals. The simulated energy deposition in the coils is compared to the quench levels predicted by electro-thermal models, thus allowing to validate and improve the models which are used to set beam-dump thresholds on beam-loss monitors for Run 2.
Quench of superconducting radio-frequency cavities frequently leads to the lowered quality factor Q0, which had been attributed to the additional trapped magnetic flux. Here we demonstrate that the origin of this magnetic flux is purely extrinsic to the cavity by showing no extra dissipation (unchanged Q0) after quenching in zero magnetic field, which allows us to rule out intrinsic mechanisms of flux trapping such as generation of thermal currents or trapping of the rf field. We also show the clear relation of dissipation introduced by quenching to the orientation of the applied magnetic field and the possibility to fully recover the quality factor by requenching in the compensated field. We discover that for larger values of the ambient field, the Q-factor degradation may become irreversible by this technique, likely due to the outward flux migration beyond the normal zone opening during quench. Our findings are of special practical importance for accelerators based on low- and medium-beta accelerating structures residing close to focusing magnets, as well as for all high-Q cavity-based accelerators.
We use a recently developed quench protection heater modeling tool for an analysis of heater delays in superconducting high-field Nb3Sn accelerator magnets. The results suggest that the calculated delays are consistent with experimental data, and show how the heater delay depends on the main heater design parameters.
During the 2011 run of the LHC there was a significant measured temperature increase in the LHC Injection Kicker Magnets (MKI) during operation with 50ns bunch spacing. This was due to increased beam-induced heating of the magnet due to beam impedance. Due to concerns about future heating with the increased total intensity to nominal and ultimate luminosities a review of the impedance reduction techniques within the magnet was required. A number of new beam screen designs are proposed and their impedance evaluated. Heating estimates are also given with a particular attention paid to future intensity upgrades to ultimate parameters.
Modern ion accelerators and ion implantation systems need very short, highly versatile, Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) systems. The need for reliable and continuous operation requires LEBT designs to be simple and robust. The energy efficiency of available high temperature superconductors (HTS), with efficient and simple cryocooler refrigeration, is an additional attraction. Innovative, compact LEBT systems based on solenoids designed and built with high-temperature superconductor will be developed using computer models and prototyped. The parameters will be chosen to make this type of LEBT useful in a variety of ion accelerators, ion implantation systems, cancer therapy synchrotrons, and research accelerators, including the ORNL SNS. The benefits of solenoids made with HTS will be evaluated with analytical and numerical calculations for a two-solenoid configuration, as will be used in the SNS prototype LEBT that will replace the electrostatic one at SNS, and a single solenoid configuration, as was proposed for the Fermilab proton driver that will be most applicable to ion implantation applications.
Low-energy medium-luminosity Muon Collider (MC) is being studied as a possible Higgs Factory (HF). Electrons from muon decays will deposit more than 300 kW in superconducting magnets of the HF collider ring. This imposes significant challenges to superconducting (SC) magnets used in the MC storage ring (SR) and interaction regions (IR). The magnet designs are proposed which provide high operating gradient and magnetic field in a large aperture to accommodate the large size of muon beams due to low b{eta}* as well as the cooling system to intercept the large heat deposition from the showers induced by decay electrons. Specific distribution of heat deposition in the lattice elements MC SR requires large aperture magnets to accommodate thick high-Z absorbers to protect the SC coils. Based on the developed MARS15 model and intense simulations, a sophisticated radiation protection system was designed for the collider SR and IR to bring the peak power density in the superconducting coils below the quench limit and reduce the dynamic heat deposition in the cold mass by a factor of 100. The system consists of tight tungsten masks in the magnet interconnect regions and elliptical tungsten liners in magnet aperture optimized for each magnet. It also reduces the background particle fluxes in the collider detector.