Analysis of Voltage Spikes in Superconducting ${\rm Nb}_{3}{\rm Sn}$ Magnets

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has been developing a new generation of superconducting accelerator magnets based on niobium tin (Nb₃Sn). The performance of these magnets is influenced by thermo-magnetic instabilities, known as flux jumps, which can lead to premature trips of the quench detection system due to large voltage transients or quenches at low current. In an effort to better characterize and understand these instabilities, a system for capturing fast voltage transients was developed and used in recent tests of R&D model magnets. A new automated voltage spike analysis program was developed for the analysis of large amount of voltage-spike data. We report results from the analysis of large statistics data samples for short model magnets that were constructed using MJR and RRP strands having different sub-element size and structure. We then assess the implications for quench protection of Nb₃Sn magnets.