Abstract-One of the main issues for the operation of the LHC accelerator at CERN is the field errors generated by persistent and coupling currents in the main dipoles at injection conditions, i.e., 0.54 T dipole field. For this reason we are conducting systematic magnetic field measurements to quantify the above effects and compare them to the expected values from measurement on strands and cables. We discuss the results in terms of DC effects from persistent current magnetization, AC effects with short time constant from strand and cable coupling currents, and long-term decay during constant current excitation. Average and spread of the measured field errors over the population of magnets tested are as expected or smaller. Field decay at injection, and subsequent snap-back, show for the moment the largest variation from magnet to magnet, with weak correlation to parameters that can be controlled during production. For this reason these effects are likely to result in the largest spread of field errors over the whole dipole production.

Abstract-The measurements performed at CERN on prototypes and first pre-series main dipole magnets confirm the need of an active control of the Large Hadron Collider to compensate the dynamic field changes during the proton beam injection and acceleration. This control requires in turn an accurate forecast of the magnetic field in the accelerator. We plan to predict the field on the basis of two elements: theoretical field models tailored through the accumulated knowledge of the main magnets during series tests, and an on-line measurement system running on few reference magnets tracking the LHC current cycle. Data coming from this "Multipoles Factory" will result from the fusion of the two sources. Based on this system we foresee to deliver calibration information for pre-defined accelerator cycles as well as real time information for the active control. In this paper we report the conceptual design of the system, and we discuss the features and performance of the models that we have developed for the field forecast.

Abstract-Knowledge of AC loss and dynamic magnetic field distortion in the main LHC dipoles is both important for the assessment of the accelerator performance and providing insight into the properties of assembled magnets. We measured the loss due to the current cycling in a few 1-meter long model dipoles, 15-meter long dipole prototypes and pre-series magnets. As expected the loss depends linearly on the rate of the current change. From the slope of this dependence, the contact resistance between the strands of the opposite layers of the cable, , was evaluated for the inner winding of the dipole. We discuss the method to estimate the value in the outer winding. The value has been also derived independently from measurements of the magnetic field. For this, the ramp rate dependent component of the main field as well as of the harmonics has been measured. The main magnetic field measurements were performed using both stationary coils and Hall probes. Rotating coils were used to perform the harmonic measurements.

Abstract-We report the main results of the magnetic field measurements performed on the full-size LHC superconducting dipoles tested at CERN since summer 1998. Main field strength and field errors are summarized. We discuss in detail the contributions related to the geometry of the collared coil, the assembled cold mass, cool-down effects, magnetization of the superconducting cable and saturation effects at high field. Dynamic effects on field harmonics, such as the field decay during injection and field errors during current ramps, are assessed statistically.