LIMITS OF Nb3Sn ACCELERATOR MAGNETS

Pushing accelerator magnets beyond 10 T holds a promise of future upgrades to machines like the Tevatron at Fermilab and the LHC at CERN. Exceeding the current density limits of NbTi superconductor, Nb{sub 3}Sn is at present the only practical superconductor capable of generating fields beyond 10 T. Several Nb{sub 3}Sn pilot magnets, with fields as high as 16 T, have been built and tested, paving the way for future attempts at fields approaching 20 T. High current density conductor is required to generate high fields with reduced conductor volume. However this significantly increases the Lorentz force and stress. Future designs of coils and structures will require managing stresses of several 100's of MPa and forces of 10's of MN/m. The combined engineering requirements on size and cost of accelerator magnets will involve magnet technology that diverges from the one currently used with NbTi conductor. In this paper we shall address how far the engineering of high field magnets can be pushed, and what are the issues and limitations before such magnets can be used in particle accelerators