Change in field harmonics after quench and thermal cycles in superconducting magnets

A change in field harmonics after quench and thermal cycles has been observed in superconducting magnets for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This paper presents the results of a systematic investigation of this effect in a number of RHIC dipole and quadrupole magnets. These changes in field harmonics may limit the ultimate field quality and its reproducibility in superconducting magnets. A change in pre-stress has also been observed after quench and thermal cycles. A possible link between these two changes is explored