Speaker
Description
Quench heaters for the active protection of superconducting magnets are large flexible circuits that are produced in a photolithographic process. The quench heater base material is a lamination of a thin steel foil from which the circuits are produced by chemical etching, and an insulating film which provides electrical insulation between the quench heater circuit and the magnet coil. The insulating film should have highest possible breakdown voltage under operating conditions to prevent short circuits between coil and heater. On the other hand, the thermal conductivity of the film should be as high as possible to limit the coil hot spot temperature in case of a magnet quench. Another requirement of the quench heater insulation system is that it needs to withstand the mechanical stresses exerted during assembly, thermal cycles and operation of the magnet. To improve the performance of quench heaters for future superconducting magnets in the present study we have characterised the dielectric properties, the thermal conductivity, and the mechanical properties of different 50 um thick insulating films made of polyimide and PEEK. We present an overview of these results and discuss potential improvements in terms of breakdown voltage, hot spot temperature and robustness of the heater to coil insulation system.
| Submitters Country | France |
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