Measurements of retractable gas-cooled 6061 aluminum electrical leads operating in a vacuum
Description/Abstract
To charge and discharge the ASTROMAG superconducting magnet in space requires retractable gas-cooled leads which must operate in a vacuum. This report describes the design and test of 500 ampere retractable gas-cooled leads made from 6061-T4 aluminum tubes. Aluminum is attractive for gas-cooled electrical leads in space because of its low mass density and the desire for short leads. Initial tests showed that retractable gas-cooled leads could operate in a vacuum from a source of normal helium. The pressure drop through the leads was low enough to permit a superconducting magnet to be charged and discharged while the leads vent into space. The leads were stable at currents above 700 amperes. The voltage drop across the contact between the upper and lower leads was as low as 1.2 mV per lead out of a total voltage drop of 42 mV per lead when the leads carried 714 amperes. The gas required for cooling was comparable to the more conventional copper gas-cooled current leads. In a second test seven months later, the contact resistance between the lead sections had increased considerably. In the second test, the contact resistance was repeatable for one lead but not for the other. 6 refs., 2 figs.
| Creator/Author: | Green, M.A. ; Aguiar, H. ; Bensadoun, M.J. ; Gibson, J.H. ; Heine, D.L. ; Levin, S. ; Limon, M. ; Smoot, G.F. ; Witebsky, C. |
|---|---|
| Publication Date: | 1991 Jun 01 |
| OSTI Identifier: | OSTI ID: 5638136; Legacy ID: DE91014617 |
| Report Number(s): | LBL-30785; CONF-910635--3; ASTROMAG--035 |
| DOE Contract Number: | AC03-76SF00098 |
| Other Number(s): | Other: ON: DE91014617 |
| Resource Type: | Conference |
| Specific Type: | Technical Report |
| Resource Relation: | Conference: Cryogenic engineering conference and international cryogenic materials conference, Huntsville, AL (United States), 11-14 Jun 1991 |
| Research Org: | Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA) |
| Sponsoring Org: | DOE; NASA; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States) |
| Subject: | 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS; COOLING; ALUMINIUM ALLOYS; CRYOGENICS; CRYOPUMPS; FEASIBILITY STUDIES; FLUID FLOW; HEAT TRANSFER; HELIUM; TESTING; TUBES; ALLOYS; ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT; ELECTROMAGNETS; ELEMENTS; ENERGY TRANSFER; EQUIPMENT; FLUIDS; GASES; LABORATORY EQUIPMENT; MAGNETS; NONMETALS; PUMPS; RARE GASES; SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES; VACUUM PUMPS |
| Country of Publication: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Format: | Size: Pages: (7 p) |
| Availability: | OSTI; NTIS; GPO Dep. To purchase this media from NTIS, click here |
| Update Date: | 2008 Feb 07 |
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