Influence of the spacers on the stability of channel cooled superconducting coils

In a previous paper, the thermal stability of channel cooled superconducting magnets was experimentally studied. Stable normal zones were observed within a range of currents and local disturbance energies. Usual theories fail to fully explain these results, owing to the fact that they take into account a heat transfer to liquid helium only function of the temperature of the conductor, whatever the position is. In a simplified theoretical analysis, it is shown that in a locally uncooled superconducting wire several stationary normal zones can exist. A criterion is derived that yields the recovery current as a function of the length of the uncooled region. Besides, a detailed numerical analysis determines the evolution of a normal zone in a channel cooled magnet. Theoretical calculations are compared with experimental results.