Conductor limited quenches of LHC superconducting main dipoles

In the framework of the series tests of superconducting magnets for the LHC, a special procedure was developed at CERN to perform conductor limited quenches at temperatures around 4.4 K. All results obtained on pre-series and series main dipoles tested to date will be presented with their analysis. These quenches allow fine diagnostics concerning the electrical integrity of the conductors and of the splices. They also allow the determination for each magnet of the temperature margin at nominal operating conditions of the LHC at superfluid helium. The comparison between the quench current and the critical current directly measured on short samples of superconducting cables used for the winding is discussed.