Fabrication and testing of a high field dipole mechanical model

As a first step towards the development of a high field Nb/sub 3/Sn superconducting dipole for a Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC), a short mechanical model was built and tested at Fermilab. The aim of this work was to develop simpler fabrication techniques and test new structural materials to use in the dipole model. The coil design was based on a two-layer, cos(B) approach. The end parts were designed using ROXIE magnet optimization program and manufactured using a 6-axis EDM machine. The two layers of each half-coil were wound using one piece of cable without any interlayer splices. After winding, a ceramic matrix was applied to the each half-coil and the coil was cured under compression at 150/spl deg/C. The two half-coils were then assembled together in a reaction fixture for heat treatment at 450/spl deg/C for 8 hours. After reaction, the coils were placed in a curing fixture for epoxy impregnation. Finally some mechanical and electrical tests were performed after which the coils were sectioned to check the cable positioning and impregnation quality. This paper summarizes the results and experience obtained from the mechanical model.