Influence of supercurrents on the stability of superconducting magnets

Supercurrents were recently identified as a source of reduced magnet stability which can explain the measured ramp rate limitation in large superconducting magnets. They also explain an unexpected periodic field modulation along the axes of superconducting accelerator dipoles. Supercurrents are extra coupling currents between the strands of a cable which are induced by a variable field sweep rate (B)over dot(x) along the length of the cable. They flow over the whole cable length and have time constants many orders of magnitudes larger than 'normal' interstrand coupling currents. Supercurrents may lead to a highly inhomogeneous current distribution and to additional coupling losses ('supercurrent losses'), even in magnet sections with (B)over dot = 0. Both effects can drastically reduce the magnet stability during fast ramping up. The complete solution of the space and time dependence is given for a two-strand model cable. The theory of supercurrents can explain typical results of ramp rate limitation in large magnets. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.