Status Report on the Series Production of the Main Superconducting Dipole Magnets for LHC

The LHC accelerator, at present under construction at CERN, Geneva, will make use of 1232 superconducting dipole magnets. The coils are wound with Rutherford type cable based on copper stabilized NbTi superconductors. The LHC machine will be operated at 1.9 K in superfluid helium. The unprecedented mass production of the superconducting dipole magnets, which involves three main contractors in Europe, is running steadily according to plan. This paper reports the outstanding technical issues encountered throughout the execution of the main manufacturing steps, which are the coil winding, curing and clamping in the collar structure, the 15-m long computer-controlled welding, the high-precision positioning operations for the cold mass finishing and the helium leak testing. The achieved production rates are discussed as well as the CERN plan for the completion of these important contracts