Insulation and Impregnation Test for ITER Toroidal Field Coils

Abstract

Synopsis:The manufacturing process for ITER toroidal field (TF) coils must be demonstrated as effective in order to meet the criteria for qualification. Since impregnation of the insulation system is one criterion for qualification in this study, we performed impregnation tests using a cyanate-ester/epoxy blended resin, chosen for its excellent resistance to radiation. To establish the insulation and impregnation procedure in the TF coil manufacturing process, three types of trials were performed: 1) impregnation tests using an acrylic model to fix the impregnation conditions; 2) an impregnation test using a metallic model to confirm that no void remains in the insulation layer after curing in the D-shaped configuration; and 3) insulation and impregnation trials using a 1/3-scale double-pancake (DP) model. The results of these trials were used to determine the insulation and impregnation procedures for manufacturing ITER TF coils.

Lessons learned from European and Japanese production of ITER toroidal field coils

“…The TF coil manufacturing is described in [9][10][11][12]. The major technical challenges of TF coil manufacturing were (1) wind, react and transfer technology to insert the conductor into the RP [10,12,13], (2) development of electrical insulating performance with high radiation condition [10,14], (3) accuracy of the CCL positioning to minimize the error magnetic field [9,10,15,16], (4) welding and machining technology within severe tolerances for the huge structures [9,11,[15][16][17][18].…”

Completion of all Winding Packs for ITER Toroidal Field Coils in Japan

“…The TF coil should survive in neutron condition of approximately 10 22 n/m 2 during ITER operation. Therefore, dedicated insulation materials were developed and selected experimentally [11][12][13][14]. The insulation requirement is listed in Table 1.…”