THE RAMP RATE DEPENDENCE OF THE SEXTUPOLE FIELD IN SUPERCONDUCTING DIPOLES

Sextupole components are induced in the magnetic field of superconducting dipoles when the current is changed. The magnitude of this effect depends on the rate of change of field, the strand-to-strand resistance in the superconducting cable, and the twist pitch of the wire. Ramp rate measurements have been made on a number of SSC dipoles wound from conductors with different interstrand resistances. The technique employed uses an array of Hall probes sensitive to the sextupole field and can measure the difference for field increasing or decreasing as a function of axial position. Magnets with very low interstrand resistance exhibit a large axial oscillation in the sextupole field between up and down ramps which is rate dependent. When the strand resistance is high the amplitude of this oscillation is almost independent of ramp rate.