The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) prototype test string-1, hereafter referred to as the string, is composed of three 10-m long prototype dipole magnets and one 6-m long prototype quadrupole magnet. The magnets are immersed in a pressurized static bath of superfluid helium that is maintained at a pressure of about 1 bar and at a temperature of about 1.9 K. This helium bath constitutes one single hydraulic unit, extending along 42.5 m of the string length. We have measured the triggering of quenches of the string magnets due to the quenching of a single dipole magnet located at the string's extremity, i.e., "quench propagation". Previously reported measurements enabled to establish that in this configuration the quench propagation is mediated by the helium and not by the inter-magnet bus bar connections [L. Coull, D. Hagedorn, G. Krainz, F. Rodriguez-Mateos, R. Schmidt, Quench propagation tests on the LHC superconducting magnet string, in: S. Myers, A. Pacheco, R. Pascual, C. Petit-Jean-Genaz, J. Poole (Eds.), Fifth European Particle Accelerator Conference - EPAC '96, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain, 10-14 June 1996, IOP, Bristol, 1996; F. Rodriguez-Mateos, R. Schmidt, L. Serio, Thermo-hydraulic quench propagation at the LHC superconducting magnet string, in: D. Dew-Hughes, R.G. Scurlock, J.H.P. Watson (Eds), 17th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference (ICEC-17), Bournemouth, UK, 14-17 July 1998, IOP, Bristol, 1998]. We present a model of helium-mediated quench propagation based on the qualitative conclusions of these two previous papers, and on additional information gained from a dedicated series of quench propagation measurements that were not previously reported. We will discuss the specific mechanisms and their main parameters involved at different timescales of the propagation process, and apply the model to make quantitative predictions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
