On-Surface Test of the ATLAS Barrel Toroid Coils: Overview

The Barrel Toroid (BT) provides the magnetic field for the muon detectors in the ATLAS experiment at CERN. The Toroid is built up from eight superconducting coils. Each coil consists of two 25 m times 5 m racetrack shape double pancakes impregnated and pre-stressed inside an aluminum coil casing. The 42-tons cold mass is cooled by forced-flow liquid helium circulating in aluminum pipes glued to its surface. The coils are tested on surface prior to their underground installation. The test program has started in September 2004 and finished in June 2005. This paper describes the test set up and various commissioning tests performed at the ATLAS Magnet Test Facility. It includes the aspects of test preparation, vacuum pumping, leak testing, cooling down, powering and warming up. The 8 coils have passed the tests successfully and have been assembled into the Toroid in the ATLAS cavern. The testing completes the production of the so far largest racetrack coils in the world