Assembly and Tests of Mechanical Models of the 15-T Nb3Sn Dipole Demonstrator

Within the U.S. magnet development program, Fermilab is developing a 15-T Nb
₃
Sn dipole demonstrator. Prior to the construction of the real magnet model, short sections and the whole structure were instrumented with strain gauges and assembled to validate the results of structural analysis, check tooling, and to gain experience with the assembly of the real magnet components. This paper summarizes the lessons learned from these mechanical models and compares the measured data with the finite-element analysis.