The SMC (Short Model Coil) Program: FE Analysis With 3D Modeling

The SMC (Short Model Coil) project aims at testing superconducting coils in racetrack configuration, wound with cable. The degradation of the magnetic properties of the cable is studied by applying different levels of pre-stress. It is an essential step in the validation of procedures for the construction of superconducting magnets with high performance conductor. Two SMC assemblies have been completed and cold tested in the frame of a European collaboration between CEA (FR), CERN and STFC (UK), with the technical support from LBNL (US). The second assembly showed remarkable good quench results, reaching a peak field of 12.5 T. This paper details the new 3D modeling method of the SMC, implemented using the ANSYS Workbench environment. Advanced computer-aided-design (CAD) tools are combined with multi-physics Finite Element Analyses (FEA), in the same integrated graphic interface, forming a fully parametric model that enables simulation driven development of the SMC project. The magnetic and structural model is described and the results are compared with the experimental data from the strain gauges, which monitor the mechanical strain of the structure.