Development of a Low-Cost Ceramic Insulation Material for Magnet Applications.

Future magnet designs for fusion devices and particle accelerators will require cost-effective, radiation-resistant materials. The use of hybrid inorganic/organic composite insulation systems will improve the lifetime, reliability, and performance of these systems. Previously, Composite Technology Development, Inc. (CTD) developed a highly-radiation-resistant, hybrid inorganic/organic insulation system, CTD-1012PX, which can be co-processed with the magnet’s Nb3Sn superconductor. This process allows the coil to be wound and insulated prior to heat treatment. However, the cost of the CTD-1012PX insulation system is generally higher than organic insulations due to the higher prices of the ceramic fibers and ceramic-matrix precursor materials. Recently, CTD demonstrated the potential for significantly reducing the cost of hybrid ceramic/organic insulation through the development of a lower-cost inorganic-matrix system and the use of lower-cost reinforcement fibers. Without accounting for the cost of a yet-to-be-developed fiber/matrix interface material, the new insulation system costs approximately 16 percent of the currently used CTD-1012PX system. This paper summarizes an on-going effort to develop this new low-cost, hybrid inorganic/organic insulation system. The options evaluated for cost reduction, as well as mechanical test results showing the effects of these changes on the properties of the insulation system, are presented.. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]