Nb3Sn conductor development and characterization for NED

The main purpose of Next European Dipole (NED) project is to design and to build an Nb3Sn ∼ 15 T dipole magnet. Due to budget constraints, NED is mainly focused on superconducting cable development and production. In this work, an update is given on the NED conductor development by Alstom-MSA and SMI, which uses, respectively, Internal-Tin-Diffusion and Powder-In-Tube methods, with the aim of reaching a non-copper critical current density of ∼ 3000 A/mm2 at 12 T and 4.2 K. Characterization results, including critical current and magnetization data, are presented and discussed, as well, for conductors already developed by both companies for this project. SMI succeeded to produce a strand with 50 μm diameter filaments and with a critical current of ∼ 1400 A at 4.2 K and 12 T, corresponding to a non-copper critical current density of ∼ 2500 A/mm2. Cabling trials with this strand were successfully carried out at LBNL.