Theory and modelling of quench in cable-in-conduit superconducting magnets
- Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Fusion Center
A new simple, self consistent theoretical model is presented that describes the phenomena of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit superconducting magnets. The model (Quencher) circumvents many of the difficulties associated with obtaining numerical solutions in more general existing models. Specifically, a factor of 30-50 is gained in CPU time over the general, explicit time dependent codes used to study typical quench events. The corresponding numerical implementation of the new model is described and the numerical results are shown to agree very well with those of the more general models, as well as with experimental data. Further, well justified approximations lead to the MacQuench model that is shown to be very accurate and considerably more efficient than the Quencher model. The MacQuench code is suitable for performing quench studies on a personal computer, requiring only several minutes of CPU time. In order to perform parametric studies on new conductor designs it is required to utilize a model such as MacQuench because of the high computational efficiency of this model. Finally, a set of analytic solutions for the problem of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit Conductors is presented. These analytic solutions represent the first such results that remain valid for the long time scales of interest during a quench process. The assumptions and the resulting simplifications that lead to the analytic solutions are discussed, and the regimes of validity of the various approximations are specified. The predictions of the analytic results are shown to be in very good agreement with numerical as well as experimental results. Important analytic scaling relations are verified by such comparisons, and the consequences of some of these scalings on currently designed superconducting magnets are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Fusion Center; EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC02-93ER54186; AC07-76ID01570
- OSTI ID:
- 10190593
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/54186-T4; PFC/RR-94-5; ON: DE95001819; BR: 35AT15000/AT1500000; TRN: 94:021269
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: DN: Submitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.; TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); PBD: Apr 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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