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Ramp rate and direct current studies were conducted on the ENEA coil up to 8T, 2-4T/s, 12 K using an experimental setup to determine the pulsed current distribution and ramp rate limitation of the superconducting cable. It was considered that cable-in-conduit conductors exhibit reduced performances in variable field. The tests were conducted to avoid such performance degradation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

The use Nb3Al strands and a steel jacket reduces the manufacturing complexity and cost of toroidal coils for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) provided the ITER conductor design is modified. This was demonstrated in an analytical evaluation of the Nb3Al critical current as a function temperature, field and filament strain, critical temperature, hysteresis losses as well as cable design and manufacturing options.

A significant amount (over 70 runs) of experimental data on stability margin and quench behavior in a two-dimensional, forced-flow cooled NbTi winding pack has been collected. The measurements performed over a wide range of operating conditions (operating current, field and temperature) have been used as the experimental data-base for the comparison with the results of the simulations done using the quench analysis code SARUMAN. Here we present the results of the experimental and validation activities, which show that SARUMAN can successfully predict stability margin and quench propagation in a 3-D winding.

An experimental study of the quenching characteristics and stability margin of niobium titanium conductors was carried out. The analysis, which permitted inter-layer thermal transport between neighboring layers only, obtained the necessary conditions for inducing two-dimensional normal zone propagation. The measured values were also contrasted to estimates of the SARUMAN simulation program to validate the predicted data.

Evaluates the performance of the coils made of Cable-In-Conduit Nb3Sn conductors for the Central Solenoid of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Performance of fast ramp tests; Distribution of the current inside the cable; Measurement of the critical current; Determination of the fastest possible current ramps.