skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: INSTABILITES IN NB3SN WIRES.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:888471

High current-density Nb{sub 3}Sn strands made by internal-tin routes are not stable against flux jumps at low fields. Since flux jumps release heat, they can initiate quenching if thermal conductivity to the liquid helium is poor. To make matters worse, tin is a potent contaminant of copper, and reaction of strands to maximize performance leads to the loss of thermal conductivity. We discuss how the root of a solution of this problem lies in optimizing two parameters, RRR and J{sub c}, instead of J{sub c} alone. An important workaround for magnet designers is controlling the balance between performance and stability by reducing the temperature or time of the final heat treatment step. This provides ample J{sub c} while also keeping RRR high. Under these conditions, the instability current density threshold J{sub s} is higher than J{sub c}. Additional factors are also available to improve the management of instabilities, including new strand designs with smaller subelements or divided subelements.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/SC
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
888471
Report Number(s):
BNL-76727-2006-CP; R&D Project: 05253; KC0201030; TRN: US0604285
Resource Relation:
Conference: WORKSHOP ON ACCELERATOR MAGNET DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION (WAMDO); CERN, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND; 20060403 through 20060406
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English