Aluminum Stabilized NbTi Conductor Test Coil Design, Fabrication, and Test Results

A new generation of precision muon conversion experiments is planned at both Fermilab and KEK. These experiments will depend upon a complex set of solenoid magnets for the production, momentum selection and transport of a muon beam to a stopping target, and for tracking detector momentum analysis of candidate conversion electrons from the target. Baseline designs for the production and detector solenoids use NbTi cable that is heavily stabilized by an extruded high RRR aluminum jacket. A U.S.-Japan research collaboration has begun whose goal is to advance the development of optimized Al-NbTi conductors, gain experience with the technology of winding coils from this material, and test the conductor performance as modest length samples become available. For this purpose, a “conductor test” solenoid with three coils was designed and built at Fermilab. A sample of the RIKEN Al-NbTi conductor from KEK was wound into a “test” coil; this was sandwiched between two “field” coils wound from doubled SSC cable, to increase the peak field on the RIKEN test coil. All three solenoid coils were epoxy impregnated, and utilized aluminum outer bandage rings to apply preload to the coils when cold. The design and fabrication details, and results of the magnet quench performance tests are presented and discussed.