Powder-in-tube (PIT) Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors for high-field magnets

Authors:
  • JLJ.L.H. Lindenhovius
    J.L.H. Lindenhovius
  • EHE.M. Hornsveld
    E.M. Hornsveld
  • AOA. Den Ouden
    A. Den Ouden
  • WWW.A.J. Wessel
    W.A.J. Wessel
  • HKH.H.J. Ten Kate
    H.H.J. Ten Kate
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Abstract
New Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors, based on the powder-in-tube (PIT) process, have been developed for application in accelerator magnets and high-field solenoids. For application in accelerator magnets, SMI has developed a binary 504 filament PIT conductor by optimizing the manufacturing process and adjustment of the conductor lay-out. It uniquely combines a non-copper current density of 2680 A/mm/sup 2/@10 T with an effective filament diameter of about 20 mu m. This binary conductor may be used in a 10 T, wide bore model separator dipole magnet for the LHC, which is being developed by a collaboration of the University of Twente and CERN. A ternary (Nb/7.5wt%Ta)/sub 3/Sn conductor containing 37 filaments is particularly suited for application in extremely high-field superconducting solenoids. This wire features a copper content of 43%, a non-copper current density of 217 A/mm/sup 2/@20 T and a B/sub c2/ of 25.6 T. The main issues and the experimental results of the development program of PIT Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors are presented and discussed in this paper. (8 refs)