The MBRD Dipoles for the Luminosity Upgrade at the LHC: From Prototype Tests to the Series Production

The recombination dipoles MBRD for the High Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN are double-aperture superconducting magnets generating a central magnetic field of 4.5 T in a 105 mm diameter bore, directed in the same direction in both apertures. The integrated magnetic field is 35 T-m in a magnetic length of 7.78 m: with respect to the corresponding magnet presently installed in LHC, the aperture is larger, the length is smaller and the central field is higher. The project, currently underway, includes the fabrication by ASG Superconductors and testing at CERN of a short model (1.6 m long), a prototype, and a series of 4 + 2 spare dipoles. The short model was delivered to CERN and successfully tested in a vertical cryostat in summer 2020, reaching nominal current after three quenches in the second thermal cycle, validating most of the mechanical, thermal and electrical design and giving indications for improvements that have been implemented in the prototype, which was completed and delivered to CERN in October 2021. It was tested in October 2022 in its final cold mass, 14 m long, which also includes the two orbit correctors. This contribution reports on key results from the prototype tests and on the further activities related to the construction of the first magnets of the series.