Mechanical Design of the Iseult 11.7 T Whole Body MRI Magnet

The Iseult system is a highly homogeneous 11.7 T superconducting magnet. This high field 900 mm warm bore coil will provide the main field of the Iseult/Inumac MRI system, dedicated to the Neurospin center of the CEA life science division. The cold mass structure of the magnet is designed to support and accurately locate the central and shielding coils. The main winding is made of a 3.8 m length stacking of 2 m outer diameter double-pancakes. Under self load, the axial compression of the main coil reaches 8100 t. The two shielding coils are 4 m outer diameter short length solenoids. The cold mass assembly consists of the main coil suspension and preload system, surrounded by the shielding coils casing. It weighs 105 t with envelop dimensions of 4 m diameter × 4 m length. The engineering design of the cryostat has been carried out. This paper gives a description of the system, and an overview of the mechanical behavior of the cold mass assembly.