Identification of Assembly Faults Through the Detection of Magnetic Field Anomalies in the Production of the LHC Dipoles

Abstract

Magnetic measurements at room temperature have been used to monitor the production of the superconducting coils of the Large Hadron Collider main dipoles. They have made it possible to identify several assembly errors, e.g. cases of bad gluing of the coil layers, bad conductor positioning, missing pole shims and other problems related to faulty procedures. This paper reviews the experience accumulated so far considering almost 1000 dipoles. After a short outline of the method used to pin out field anomalies and deduce realistic deformation of the coil, an exhaustive list of the cases met during the production is given. A discussion follows on the findings after decollaring as compared to the predictions, including the still open cases