Design and Strength Analysis of the Lifting Process for CFETR TF Coil Manufacturing

The Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT) is a prominent national science facility in China, and the toroidal field (TF) coil is a major constituent of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). In order to master the core technology in the manufacturing process of large magnets, the cable-in-conduit conductor used to design the TF coil structure is an important component of the CRAFT system, which facilitates the manufacture of prototype TF coils for CFETR. Design of lifting solutions is crucial for the manufacture process of oversized and overweight coils, as well as the key design requirements for coil protection and deformation prevention. This study mainly elucidates the impact that the design of the lifting process has on the coil assembly and on the embedding of TF coils via subwinding pack joints. The design and strength of the lifting process have been tested under actual conditions to solve the problems associated with coil transportation after winding, joint manufacturing, heat treatment, vacuum pressure impregnation, embedding, and other processes. The strength of the lifting process is inspected under a 6° deflection load in four directions by using finite element analysis. Accordingly, the feasibility of the final manufacturing scheme and key technologies are analyzed, and the strength of the proposed structure meets the ASME stress criteria. Independent load experiments have also been conducted for lifting adapters to verify that their structures can meet the design requirements and the results show that the prepared samples meet the deformation assessment criteria.