The design of a tapered bore superconducting MHD magnet system

This paper presents the design and system characteristics of a superconducting MHD magnet system presently being fabricated at the Magnetic Corporation of America for the United States Air Force Aero-Propulsion Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The magnet is designed to produce a magnetic field on axis that tapers from 4 T to 2.75 T over an active field length of 1.04 m. The warm bore has a minimum ID of .29 m at the inlet and .53 m at the outlet. The magnet windings, structure, and helium vessel are 1.77 m long and have a maximum diameter of 1.22 m. This cold mass will weigh approximately 2,727 kg (6,000 pounds). The room temperature vessel is 2.62 m long, has a 1.7 m outside diameter, and will weigh 818 kg (1,800 pounds). A 24-strand Rutherford cable with both a Kapton and B-stage epoxy/glass wrap is wound onto a cold bore tube in the shape of an annular saddle with arched end turns. The windings are separated by internal structure used to transmit the Lorentz body forces to the external or superstructure.