Transient Analysis of Quench Propagation in Superconducting Coils

A computer program has been developed for simulating quench propagation and associated transient thermal and electric behavior of superconducting coils. The quench propagation has been analyzed using a logical coordinate system in order to transform a three-dimensional problem into a one-dimensional problem. In a logical coordinate system, superconducting coils are assumed to consist of long wires which are divided into elements of finite length. The capability of the present method was examined by analyzing the quench propagation in the solenoid coil system with epoxy-bonded NbTi superconductors, and the analysis results were compared with the experimental data. The comparison indicated good correlation of the computed quench time with the experimental data.