Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Mechanical testing and development of the helical field coil joint for the Advanced Toroidal Facility

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6294515
The helical field (HF) coil set for the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) is an M = 12, l = 2, constant-ratio torsatron winding consisting of 2 coils, each with 14 turns of heavy copper conductor. The coils are divided into 24 identical segments to facilitate fabrication and minimize the assembly schedule. The segments are connected across through-bolted lap joints that must carry up to 124,000 A per turn for 5 s or 62,500 A steady-state. In addition, the joints must carry the high magnetic and thermal loads induced in the conductor and still fit within the basic 140- by 30-mm copper envelope. Extensive testing and development were undertaken to verify and refine the basic joint design. Tests included assembly force and clamping force for various types of misalignment; joint resistance as a function of clamping force; clamp bolt relaxation due to thermal cycling; fatigue testing of full-size, multiturn joint prototypes; and low-cycle fatigue and tensile tests of annealed CDA102 copper. The required performance parameters and actual test results, as well as the final joint configuration, are presented. 2 refs., 9 figs., 4 tabs.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
6294515
Report Number(s):
CONF-851102-60; ON: DE86005028
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English