Simulation of Thermo-Mechanical Stresses After a Quench in the 15 T Test Facility Dipole Magnet

A large aperture dipole magnet for testing inserts and cables at high field is under development at LBNL. Its design targets a 15 T field in a 144 mm by 94 mm rectangular aperture, and is based on block coils with flared ends. The coils are inserted in an aluminum shell based structure and prestressed using the bladder and key technology. The quench protection relies on energy extraction. Measurements and computations on cos(
$\theta$
) magnets have shown that the temperature rise after quench events and its gradient within the windings can significantly increase the mechanical stresses in the superconducting coils. In this study, we couple STEAM-LEDET 2-dimensional (2D) quench simulations to the 2D electro-thermo-mechanical ANSYS model of the magnet, predicting the stress acting on the coils during a quench discharge after activating the energy extraction system. The model is then used to optimize the quench protection system, in terms of hot-spot temperature, peak voltage, and limiting the peak stress reached during an energy discharge below the cooldown and powering one.