A Novel Computer Code for Modeling Quench Protection Heaters in High-Field Accelerator Magnets

This paper presents a recently developed Code for Heater Delay Analysis (CoHDA), which is a tool for modeling protection heater induced quenches in superconducting Nb₃Sn high-field accelerator magnets. The CoHDA thermal model numerically computes the heat diffusion from the heater to the coil and estimates the time delay to quench initiation by comparing the coil temperature with its critical surface. The model takes into account heater geometry, power, and various insulation layers and coil properties. Computational heater delays are compared with experimental data from the U.S. Large Hadron Collider Accelerator Research Program Nb₃Sn High-Gradient Quadrupole magnet with good agreement. Based on the results, CoHDA provides a useful tool for quench protection design in impregnated magnets.