Buckling Calculations and Measurements on a Technologically Relevant Toroidal Magnet System

Abstract

The coils in a toroidal magnet system may deform laterally and become mechanically unstable when a critical value of the current is exceeded as a result of magnetoelastic coupling. This instability is called magnetoelastic buckling. It was studied in the TESPE arrangement, a toroidal magnet system the design and size of which meet technical demands. A generalized theoretical model was developed for the calculation of the buckling behavior of toroidal magnet systems. It was shown by the measurements that in a torus of complex design, the lateral elastic stiffnesses of the coils may vary considerably with the current. Monitoring of the natural frequencies of the vibration modes proved to be a suitable method for the supervision of the mechanical stability during operation.