Minimum Quench Energy of Nb 3 Sn Wires With High Specific Heat Tape
A major problem of state-of-the-art Nb3Snaccelerator magnets is their long training due to thermo-mechanical perturbations. Increasing the specific heat, Cp, of the Rutherford cable would reduce and/or eliminate training by limiting the coils temperature rise. This paper studies feasibility of increasing the Cp of Rutherford-type cables by using thin composite Cu/Gd 2 O 3 and Cu/Gd 2 O 2 S tapes produced by HyperTech Research, Inc. The tape can be either wrapped around the cable, placed on the cable wide faces under the insulation, and/or inserted as a core. Wire samples outfitted with these high-Cp ribbons, or tapes, were prepared and tested at FNAL for their Minimum Quench Energy (MQE). At 90%Ic and 15 T, the average gain of MQE of the Nb 3 Sn wire soldered to the Cu/Gd 2 O 2 S 55 μm thick ribbon was 2.5, and further increased at larger transport currents.