The design and the manufacturing process of the superconducting toroidal field magnet system for EAST device

The toroidal field (TF) magnet system of EAST (HT-7U), which consists of 16 superconducting coils enclosed in steel cases, has been manufactured to generate the magnetic field of 3.5 T at the plasma center to maintain plasma in a tokamak configuration with a current up to 1 MA. The TF coils have an approximately D-shape geometry of 2.6 m wide and 4.0 m high, and operate at a maximum field of 5.8 T. The conductor used in the TF coil is NbTi/Cu cable-in conduit (CIC) conductor, and its operating current is 14.3 kA.In March 2006, the first cooling down of the EAST device has been carried out successfully. The total of TF magnet system has been cooled down from room temperature to 4.5 K, and the TF system has been energized up to 8.2 kA with 5 A/s ramp rate. In September 2006, full performances of the TF magnet system have been reached, and the device of EAST has delivered its first plasma. In addition, the TF magnet system has been routinely operated with a current maintained constant on a whole day basis, for a preliminary program of more than 500 shots.In this paper, the main parts of the design, developmental tests, and the fabrication and assembly of TF coils are described in detail.     

Acceleration of heavy ions with a new RF system at HIMAC synchrotron

A fast three-dimensional scanning irradiation method is under development at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) as the next stage of heavy ion cancer therapy. This method requires highly accurate control of the beam size, energy, and intensity. To improve the accelerated beam’s quality, a new scheme for the synchrotron RF system has been developed. The new system adopts a periodic time clock system (T-clock) instead of an ordinary B-clock system. The new T-clock system is synchronized with a power line frequency of 50 Hz for synchronization with the synchrotron power supply. An ordinary B-clock system results in error pulses owing to the small analog signal of the magnetic field of the main dipole magnet, and the errors cause dipole oscillation of the beam in the RF bucket. Using the new T-clock generator at 192 kHz, we have observed an improvement in the acceleration efficiency and bunch shape compared to the B-clock generator.     

Design study of a rotating gantry for the HIMAC new treatment facility

A project to construct a new treatment facility as an extension of the existing HIMAC facility has been initiated for the further development of carbon-ion therapy. In the new facility, one of the treatment rooms will be equipped with an iso-centric gantry system employing a 3D pencil beam scanning irradiation method. In order to realize a compact design, the final 90° bending magnet is divided into two bending magnets of 60° and 30°. The scanning magnets are set between these two bending magnets, although the aperture of the 30° magnet increases. Finally, we achieved 350 tons of total weight for 400 MeV/u carbon beams with a 150 mm square field.     

Study of a new cusp field for an 18 GHz ECR ion source

A feasibility study was performed to generate new sufficient mirror cusp magnetic field (CMF) by using the coils of the existing room temperature traditional 18 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) at RIKEN. The CMF configuration was chosen because it contains plasma superbly and no multipole magnet is needed to make the contained plasma quiescent with no magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) instability and to make the system cost-effective. The least magnetic field, 13 kG is achieved at the interior wall of the plasma chamber including the point cusps (PC) on the central axis and the ring cusp (RC) on the mid-plane. The mirror ratio calculation and electron simulation were done in the computed CMF. It was found to contain the electrons for longer time than in traditional field. It is proposed that a powerful CMF ECRIS can be constructed, which is capable of producing intense highly charged ion (HCI) beam for light and heavy elements.     

控制棒检测中对显示信号判定技术的改进

针对控制棒涡流检测中出现的一个显示信号不能充分判定,制作了含有人造裂纹的试验样件,采用在涡流检测线圈中加入磁芯的磁饱和线圈,消除控制棒上可能存在的磁性影响。并将3点对中的涡流探头组件改进成6点对中,改善了检测条件,提高了检测的可靠性。试验研究和检测结果表明,在现有技术的前提下,穿过式线圈及点式涡流线圈均可检测出周向和轴向裂纹;穿过式线圈不能区分单个或多个裂纹,多个点式线圈存在实现这种区分的可能性;轴向裂纹的涡流信号明显,但结构信号可能会影响对周向裂纹的判伤。     

A special correcting winding for the l = 2 torsatron with split-type helical coils

A split-type special correcting winding (split-type SCW) for the l = 2 torsatron toroidal magnetic system with split-type helical coils is considered. The split-type SCW gives the possibility of controlling the position of the magnetic surface configuration in the direction perpendicular to the torus equatorial plane. Numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the influence of the split-type SCW magnetic field on centered and distant relative to the torus surface magnetic surface configuration with a plane magnetic axis, being promising for the fusion reactor. The configuration is realized in the l = 2 torsatron with split-type helical coils and with the coils of an additional toroidal magnetic field. The calculations show that the split-type SCW magnetic field influence on the initial magnetic surface configuration leads mainly to the magnetic surface configuration displacement along the straight z axis of torus rotation. The displacement of ∼0.1a, a is the minor radius of the torus, has no critical effect on the magnetic surface parameters. An idea on the split-type SCW magnetic field structure is obtained by numerical simulations of the effect of this field as a minority magnetic field imposed on the magnetic field of a well-known configuration. The split-type SCW magnetic field is directed, predominantly along the major radius of the torus within its volume. The displacement range of the closed magnetic surface configuration depends on the split-type SCW magnetic field value.     

Tokamak field error measurements with an electron beam in KSTAR

It is possible to detect the presence of small field errors in a tokamak with an electron beam. This was demonstrated earlier on T-15 and TEXTOR. This paper discusses the concept, past experience on these tokamaks, calculations for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device, an electron beam source, measurement devices for these measurements, and some results. It is shown that small toroidally averaged field errors can be detected by this method. A low voltage electron beam (e-beam) gun and fluorescent screen were mounted in a vertical port and inserted into the vacuum vessel at the end of the KSTAR 2nd campaign plasma experiments. A camera with a narrow field of view was mounted in midplane port in a tube tangent to the field lines at R ∼ 1.3 m and photographed the beam striking the screen. The poloidal field (PF) currents were held constant during the camera exposure period. Many shots with various PF coils energized were made and the deflections of the e-beam were measured. The measurements were made with a camera integration time of 300 ms because of the low light intensity. The results show that there are large field errors that diminish as the PF currents are raised. There appears to be no significant up-down asymmetry for static fields. Measurements with a 7 PF coil scenario with a calculated field null located at e-beam radial position show much larger fields than calculated. KSTAR was constructed with Incoloy 908 conduit using cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) in 10 of the 14 PF coils and all 16 of the toroidal field (TF) coils. Incoloy 908 has a relative magnetic permeability, μ, of about 10. The field errors appear to be largely due to Incoloy 908.     

Beam stability improvement of the HIMAC synchrotron using a feed-forward system for magnet power supplies

In order to realize a precise dose distribution in heavy-ion cancer therapy, high beam stability is required for the accelerator complex. Owing to load fluctuation caused by the upper ring, which is one of the two rings in HIMAC, current dips of ≈5-10 Hz were observed in the power supply for the bending/quadrupole magnet of the other lower ring. The parameters of the beam stability, such as the spill variation, the beam position, and the size, were adversely affected by the current dips. In order to suppress these current dips, we developed a new feed-forward system in the magnet power supply. We verified the performance of the feed-forward system by measuring the suppression of the current dips. We also performed beam experiments to measure the variation of the horizontal tune and the structure of the beam spill, which is slowly extracted by the resonance method. The experimental result showed that the current dips were successfully reduced by the system to ΔI/I ∼ 10⁻⁶. It was also confirmed that the horizontal tune and the spill structure could be stabilized by the current dip suppression.     

Detection of embedded fatigue cracks in Inconel weld overlay and the evaluation of the minimum thickness of the weld overlay using eddy current testing

This study evaluates the applicability of eddy current testing to the detection and sizing of fatigue cracks embedded in Inconel weld overlays. Welded plate specimens, which model head penetration welds and their weld overlays, are fabricated, and fatigue cracks are artificially introduced into the specimens. Eddy current inspections are performed using a uniform eddy current probe driven with 10 kHz, and all of the fatigue cracks are detected with clear signals. Subsequent numerical inversions estimate that the minimum thicknesses of the weld overlays are 1.47, 2.17, and 2.23 mm, whereas true thicknesses revealed through destructive testing are 1.51, 3.25, and 2.10 mm, respectively. Thicknesses are also evaluated using potential drop and ultrasonic testing methods; the results demonstrate that eddy current testing is the most efficient of the three methods.     

Irradiation effects of a 10 MeV neutron beam on a Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet

The effects of irradiation of a Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet by fast neutrons was investigated. The decrease in measured magnetic flux density at the center of the magnets were 0.6%, 6.9%, 25.2% and 47.3% after continuous irradiation of 1.1 kGy, 3.7 kGy, 5.6 kGy and 7.4 kGy, respectively. On the other hand, the decrease due to non-continuous irradiation, in which the magnet was first irradiated at 3.7 kGy, then irradiated again at 3.7 kGy nine months later, was 14% smaller than that of continuous irradiation, even for the same total dose. The temperature coefficient of the magnetization did not change with irradiation. Some radioactive materials, such as ¹⁴⁷Nd, ¹⁵¹Pm, and ⁵⁴Mn, were detected in the magnet after irradiation.     

4.5MV静电加速器离子聚束电路的设计

在加速器中产生脉冲中子源需要对离子源脉冲化。采用10MHz聚束和2.5MHz扫描频率，通过在交叉场分析器设置直流偏置电压和变频切割电压，改变离子束脉冲频率，使之从2.5MHz到39KHz可调。本文介绍了脉冲频率可调，幅度可调的脉冲化电路的改进设计及初步实验结果，并给出功放热设计参考。     

Design of the poloidal field system for KTX

The design of the poloidal field (PF) system includes the ohmic heating field system and the equilibrium (EQ) field system, and is the basis for the design of a magnetic confinement fusion device. A coupling between the poloidal and plasma currents, especially the eddy current in the stabilizing shell, yields design difficulties. The effects of the eddy current in the stabilizing shell on the poloidal magnetic field also cannot be ignored. A new PF system design is thus proposed. By using a low-μ material (μ=0.001, ε=1) instead of a conductive shell, an electromagnetic model is established that can provide a continuous eddy current distribution on the conductive shell. In this model, a 3D time-domain problem with shells translates into a 2D magnetostatic problem, and the accuracy of the calculation is improved. Based on these current distributions, we design the PF system and analyze how the EQ coils and conductive shell affect the plasma EQ when the plasma ramps up. To meet the mainframe design requirements and achieve an efficient power-supply design, the position and connection of the poloidal coils are optimized further.     

The magnetic field configuration measurement on EAST tokamak

The magnetic field configurations of poloidal field (PF) and toloidal field (TF) are the base of tokamak plasma operation. They are determined by the parameters such as positions and structures of PF and TF coils. Parameters of TF and PF coils of a new fully superconducting tokamak with non-circular cross-section EAST will change when the coils are cooled down from the ambient temperature to 4 K. Because of the cryogenic and refrigerator system, these parameters cannot be measured directly. Using magnetic probes signals, we measured and reconstructed magnetic field configuration of TF and PF coils. Parameters such as the positions of PF coils, the profile of the toloidal field in radial direction, the ripple and error field of toloidal field are obtained from the measurements.     

The first performance of the facility for testing ITER CC conductor short sample

A new facility had been set up to test the low temperature properties of the short sample of the small-size cable-in-conduit conductor (CICC). The facility consisted of the background magnet which could provide 7 T centric magnetic field, a 50 kA superconducting transformer which provided sample current, a 500 W/4.5 K helium refrigerator which produced both the liquid helium (LHe) and supercritical helium (SHe). An ITER CC conductor short sample was prepared and measured in this testing system. T_cs of 7.02 K (@4.1 T, 10 kA) and I_c of 8.9 kA (@4.1 T, 7.06 K) were measured.     

Magnet Design and Construction Preparation for CYCIAE-100

As the hill gap is required to increase by -1 cm due to the installation of RF, centering coils, beam diagnostics and etc., several adjusted geometries of the main magnet are investigated numerically and the new magnetic field distribution is provided for beam dynamics study in both acceleration and central region. Obviously, many key parameters of the magnet, e.g. the profile of hill gap, shimming bar, central plug, have to be re-designed while the excitation current is adjusted. In the year 2005, the basic geometry and its field distribution design were fixed, and many engineering aspects were in progress, including the mechanical structure design and construction preparation.     

A high charge state all-permanent magnet ECR ion source for the IMP 320 kV HV platform

A 320 kV high voltage (HV) platform has been constructed at Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) to satisfy the increasing requirements of experimental studies in some heavy ion associated directions. A high charge state all-permanent magnet ECRIS-LAPECR2 has been designed and fabricated to provide intense multiple charge state ion beams (such as 1000 eμA O⁶⁺, 16.7 eμA Ar¹⁴⁺, 24 eμA Xe²⁷⁺, etc.) for the HV platform. LAPECR2 has a dimension of ∅ 650 mm × 560 mm. The powerful 3D magnetic confinement to the ECR plasma and the optimum designed magnetic field for the operation at 14.5 GHz makes it possible to obtain very good performances from this source. After a brief introduction of the ECRIS and accelerator development at IMP, the conceptual design of LAPECR2 source is presented. The first test results of this all-permanent magnet ECRIS are given in this paper.     

A new magnetic scanning system for proton microprobe

Design of a new beam scanning system with ferrite-cored magnetic coils is described. Results of testing of the system are presented. Deflecting magnetic field produced by the scanning system shows high degree of uniformity. The fringing fields are decreased sharply along the magnet axis.     

Overall design of CYCIAE-14, a 14 MeV PET cyclotron

Based on a 10 MeV CRM cyclotron developed at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) with an achieved beam intensity of up to 430 μA, a 14 MeV high intensity compact cyclotron, CYCIAE-14, was designed and being built at CIAE. It is planned that the first machine would be in place with a span of 2 years. CYCIAE-14 is delicately designed to realize strong vertical focusing by adopting a 4-sector, variable hill-gap structure with an external ion source to achieve high intensity. A special design applied to the stripping extraction gives access to dual extraction with four beams. The adoption of sophisticated industrial technology will give the cyclotron advantages, e.g. low power consumption and high reliability. This paper is aimed to present the overall design of the machine, including the basic technical specifications, main magnet and coils, RF, ion source and axial injection, and stripping extraction, etc. It will also give an introduction to its construction schedule as well as the up-to-date progress.     

Measurement of beam power and profile for DNB on HT-7 tokamak

In normal experimental operation, a diagnostic neutral beam (DNB) can produce 6 A of extracted beam current in hydrogen at an energy of 49 keV with a pulse length of 100 ms. Hydrogen and deuterium beams can be produced as well. The diagnostic neutral beam has been added to the diagnostic set so that charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) can be used to acquire ion temperature and rotation. The beam power and beam profile distribution of the DNB injection can be obtained with a thermocouple probe measurement system on the HT-7 superconducting tokamak. The thermocouple probe measurement system with 13 thermocouples crossly distributed on the probe plate was used to measure the temperature rise of each coppery target, so the profile distribution of the ion/neutral beam was obtained by calculation. In this paper, the structure of the probe plate on the DNB for HT-7 tokamak and some measurement results are presented.     

Ultra fast electron beam X-ray computed tomography for two-phase flow measurement

Electron beam X-ray CT is a new technique for a fast measurement of multiphase flows with frame rates of 1000 images per second and more. It gives, in principle, quantitatively accurate images of the flow at high spatial resolution and it is non-intrusive since moderately radiation absorbing vessel walls can be penetrated by X-rays. However, on the road to a technical realisation of such a technique within a computed tomography system many problems have to be solved. As a first prototype for scientific flow measurement studies, we devised and built a fast scanned electron beam X-ray tomography scanner. The scanner consists of an electron beam unit that can be operated at up to 150 kV acceleration voltage and up to 65 mA electron beam current, with the required electron optics for beam adjustment, beam focusing and beam deflection unit and a fast circular CZT detector comprising 240 elements of 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm active pixel area. X-ray radiation is produced on a circular water cooled tungsten target. The CT system achieves up to 7000 frames per second with a spatial resolution of 1 mm. First two-phase flow experiments have been carried out on gas-water flows in bubble columns. Further, a vertical test section made of titanium alloy has been installed at the TOPFLOW facility and will be used in future to study the evolution of two-phase gas-water pipe flow at high pressures and temperatures.