3-D Coupled Thermo-Electromagnetic Modelling of Superconducting ${\rm MgB}_{2}$ Coils

The numerical simulation of complex, nonlinear and coupled, electromagnetic and thermal dynamics involved in the quench phenomena of magnesium diboride (MgB₂) superconducting magnets requires a suitable modeling of the interaction among the different aspects. As a matter of fact, magnets wound using MgB₂ tapes are characterized by material parameters and working temperatures leading to different behaviors with respect to either low T _c superconductors (LTS) and high T _c (HTS) superconductors, and thus requiring special care in the modeling of quench diffusion phenomena. In this paper, a 3-D finite-element method (FEM) model able to cope with such phenomena is presented and model predictions are compared to experimental data.