Thermal and structural analysis of a cryogenic conduction cooling system for a HTS NMR magnet

Abstract

The superconducting NMR magnets have used cryogen such as liquid helium for their cooling. The conduction cooling method using cryocoolers, however, makes the cryogenic cooling system for NMR magnets more compact and user-friendly than the cryogen cooling method. This paper describes the thermal and structural analysis of a cryogenic conduction cooling system for a 400 MHz HTS NMR magnet, focusing on the magnet assembly. The highly thermo-conductive cooling plates between HTS double pancake coils are used to transfer the heat generated in coils, namely Joule heating at lap splice joints, to thermal link blocks and finally the cryocooler. The conduction cooling structure of the HTS magnet assembly preliminarily designed is verified by thermal and structural analysis. The orthotropic thermal properties of the HTS coil, thermal contact resistance and radiation heat load are considered in the thermal analysis. The thermal analysis confirms the uniform temperature distribution for the present thermal design of the NMR magnet within 0.2 K. The mechanical stress and the displacement by the electromagnetic force and the thermal contraction are checked to verify structural stability. The structural analysis indicates that the mechanical stress on each component of the magnet is less than its material yield strength and the displacement is acceptable in comparison with the magnet dimension.