Transient Recording System for Power Supply and High Field Magnet Fault Analysis: Its Use for Magnet Aging Surveillance and Accident Diagnosis

The Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, which is a member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory, is the French facility enabling researchers to perform experiments in the highest possible magnetic fields. DC magnetic fields up to 36 T in 34-mm bore are provided at the Grenoble site. Apart from the general control and monitoring system with networked continuously monitoring computers, we developed and installed on each of the seven high-field-magnet sites a standalone transient recording system for power supply and magnet fault analysis, which is a domain where very few studies have been conducted. Introduced in 2011, this system enabled, at first, a characterized classification of recorded events. These can be divided into typical aging transients, coil-turn short-circuit set or reset, and magnet accidents leading to power supply cutoff. In the long run, this system has proven to be a useful tool in magnet aging surveillance and accident diagnosis.