Speaker
Description
Epoxy resins have long been a focus of superconducting magnet design. They provide strength and stability to the superconductor, to allow coil fabrication and consistent magnet performance. They are often cited as a main contributor to magnet performance, often as a limiting factor, from epoxy cracking and energy release. While a large variety of alternative thermoset resins have been investigated from cyanate esters to bismaleimides, thermoplastic resins are often ignored because of their high viscosity, high processing temperature and general difficulty of use in such an application. Historical methods are abandoned, and alternative techniques are developed to handle the challenging resin systems. Test results demonstrating the feasibility of high-performance thermoplastic systems for superconducting magnets are presented.
