Design of DC Current Transformer Magnetic Sensor for Measurement of Beam Currents in Accelerators

Abstract

The fluxgate magnetometer principle of second harmonic detection is applied for designing a DC Current Transformer (DCCT) based magnetic sensor for accurate measurement of beam currents in proton accelerators .This paper presents the most suitable magnetic material which can be used as the core. It also gives the geometrical model of the magnetic sensor with exact values for its height, outer radius, inner radius and the number of turns in the sensor winding. The magnitude of the AC excitation current along with its frequency is also mentioned. The sensor voltages and the second harmonic components obtained for different values of DC beam currents have been analyzed for a variety of magnetic core materials. A highly linear sensor characteristics with sensitivity in the order of 3V/A is obtained with the usage of Vitrovac 6025 Z as the core material for the modeled sensor.