Design, Assembly, and Use of a Device to Eliminate Earth Faults Caused by Metallic Debris in the LHC Main Dipole Circuits

The superconducting dipole magnets of the Large Hadron Collider operate in a superfluid helium bath at 1.9 K. As a part of the magnet quench protection system, each dipole magnet is equipped with a bypass diode located in the helium bath. The connection between the superconducting magnet and the cold by-pass diode is made through a clamping system called “half-moon,” located at the lowest point of...