Preliminary test results of the Swiss LCT-coil

The Swiss (CH) LCT-coil is the contribution of Switzerland to the international Large Coil Task (LCT) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA. After delivery in February 1984, the CH coil was tested only cryogenically during the Partial-Array Test in the summer of the same year. The first opportunity to energize the CH coil arose during the on-going Six-Coil Test. The cooldown started on January 18, and all coils became superconducting on February 18, 1986. Checking the sensors of the CH coil and remeasuring of its cryogenic parameters began on March 25. Subsequently, the coil was energized up to its full nominal current of 13 kA, creating thereby a self-field of 6.4 T on the conductor. This test period ended on April 16 with experiments simulating the nuclear heating present in a fusion reactor as additional load on the winding. This paper presents the data taken during the cooldown and the successful single-coil test. The cooldown data and the cryogenic parameters of the coil are compared to the results of the Partial-Array Test. The interpretation of the data taken while the coil was energized as a single coil is preliminary and will be further investigated.