In-House Fabrication of Outsert Coil 1 for the 100T Pulsed Magnet

Published April 10, 2019

Winding of the 65cm long pulsed coil. The leads to and from the coil can be seen extending another 24cm to the right.

Todd Adkins

Pulsed magnets are designed to operate near their structural limits to be able to generate extremely high magnetic fields. The coils have a limited life expectancy and thus need to be replaced on occasion. Fabrication of these large coils are now being done at the MagLab where advanced nondestructive examinations can be performed. Because of more rigorous quality controls and improvements in high-strength conductors and reinforcement materials, the lifetime of these coils can be extended.

First, some background

Pulsed magnets are under such intense pressures when they are energized to high magnetic fields that they simply wear out after a certain number of pulses and must be replaced. The 100T Pulsed Magnet is the flagship magnet at the MagLab’s Pulsed Field Facility, holding the world record for non-destructive generation of a magnetic field by a pulsed magnet. The magnet has reached 100.75T, but is routinely operated at 92T to 95T to reduce the risk of the magnet wearing out.

What did scientists discover?

Recent advances in big-coil fabrication at the MagLab and an increased understanding of high strength materials has enabled in-house fabrication of outsert coils for the MagLab’s largest pulsed magnets. We expect that this in-house fabrication will enable more rigorous quality control during fabrication to improve the reliability and lifetime of the 100T Pulsed Magnet, such that coils can be replaced less frequently.

Why is this important?

The MagLab's users benefit from higher magnetic fields because they yield scientific discoveries. More reliable and stronger coils result in improved and extended magnet performance and, thus, greater access to higher fields.

Who did the research?

Iain Dixon¹, Todd Adkins¹, Ke Han¹, Justin Deterding¹, Don Richardson¹, Robert Stanton¹, Vince Toplosky¹, Rongmei Niu¹, Jun Lu¹, Robert Goddard¹, William Starch¹, Doan Nguyen²

¹National MagLab, Florida State University,Tallahassee FL ²National MagLab Pulsed Field Facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM

Why did this research need the MagLab?

The MagLab leads the world in high-field magnet technology development and magnet engineering. Expertise developed from winding large superconducting coils has been coupled with pulsed magnet expertise to advance the state of the art for pulsed coil fabrication.