A comparison of ASTROMAG coils made with aluminum and copper based superconductor

The use of an aluminum matrix superconductor in the coils for the ASTROMAG magnet will increase the integrated field for conducting particle astrophysics experiments in space as compared to equal mass coils made with a copper matrix superconductor. The increased ability to detect charged particles can be achieved without decreasing the current margin of the superconductor in the coils. The use of a low-resistivity aluminum matrix conductor increases the energy needed to initiate a quench by two orders of magnitude. The current decay time constant during a quench is substantially increased. As a result, the quench energy dumped into the helium tank is reduced (the ASTROMAG coils are thermally decoupled from the helium tank), and the forces on the shield and shells due to eddy currents will be lower. A description is also given of the problems associated with the use of an aluminum matrix superconductor in the coils.