Performance evaluation of the ITER Toroidal Field Model Coil Phase I Part 1: current sharing temperature measurement Original Research Article

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Toroidal Field Model Coil, a large (2.7 m × 3.8 m × 0.8 m) superconducting (Nb3Sn) DC coil designed and constructed in collaboration between EU industries and laboratories coordinated by European Fusion Development Agreement, has been tested during 2001 in the TOSKA cryogenic facility at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, achieving the nominal 80 kA at 7.8 T peak field and 86 MJ stored energy as a standalone coil (Phase I). Possibly the highlight of the tests was the measurement of the current sharing temperature (TCS) at different transport currents I in the self-field of the coil. The measurement method is discussed, based also on the two-year long predictive work, which preceded it. The results of the full set of TCS measurements at I=80, 69 and 57 kA are presented here, and evaluated in a companion paper (part 2).