MSCAP Simulations of TESPE Magnet Safety Transients

During 1987, a series of tests were carried out on the TESPE Facility at the Institut für Technische Physik of the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe in conjunction with the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to experimentally and analytically investigate arcing phenomena in high field superconducting magnets. One objective of the tests was to verify computer code simulations of the magnet system. TESPE is a six coil, NbTi, toroidal magnet set, designed to operate with 7 T and 8.3 MJ at 7000 A. The full TESPE circuit was modeled for four series of experiments: (1) internal shorts during charge and discharge, (2) arcs initiated by electrode separation, (3) arcs initiated by a vaporizing wire and (4) arcs moving along two rails (Laufschienen).