Assembly and Test of SQ01b, a Quadrupole Magnet for the LHC Accelerator Research Program

The US LHC Accelerator Research Program (LARP) consists of four US laboratories (BNL, FNAL, LBNL, and SLAC) collaborating with CERN to achieve a successful commissioning of the LHC and to develop the next generation of Interaction Region magnets. In 2004, a large aperture Nb ₃Sn racetrack quadrupole magnet (SQ01) has been fabricated and tested at LBNL. The magnet utilized four subscale racetrack coils and was instrumented with strain gauges on the support structure and directly over the coil´s turns. SQ01 exhibited training quenches in two of the four coils and reached a peak field in the conductor of 10.4 T at a current of 10.6 kA. After the test, the magnet was disassembled, inspected with pressure indicating films, and reassembled with minor modifications. A second test (SQ01b) was performed at FNAL and included training studies, strain gauge measurements and magnetic measurements. Magnet inspection, test results, and magnetic measurements are reported and discussed, and a comparison between strain gauge measurements and 3D finite element computations is presented