Test of Superconducting Wires and Rutherford Cables With High Specific Heat

High-field accelerator magnets made of state-of-the-art Nb
₃
Sn Rutherford cables demonstrate relatively long trainings due to sudden heat depositions originated by thermo-mechanical perturbations in the magnet coils. Coil sensitivity to these perturbations can be reduced by increasing the specific heat, C
_p
, of major coil components - strands, or whole cable, or epoxy. The R&D on all these three approaches is in progress. This paper studies feasibility of increasing the C
_p
of Rutherford-type cables by using a thin composite Cu/Gd
₂
O
₃
tape. The tape can be either wrapped around the cable, placed on the cable wide faces under the insulation, and/or inserted as a core. Cu/Gd
₂
O
₃
ribbons with ~30% of Gd
₂
O
₃
powder and two different thicknesses were produced by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. Wire and cable samples outfitted with these high-C
_p
ribbons, or tapes, were prepared and tested at FNAL for the Minimum Quench Energy (MQE). At 80%I
_c
, the MQE gain average over the tested magnetic field range of the NbTi cable with high-C
_p
tape on both sides was ~1.3. The MQEgain average of the NbTi wire wrapped with the high-C
_p
ribbon was 3.1.