Coupled electromagnetic structural analysis of a DC magnet for a MHD power generator

A coupled electromagnetic and nonlinear structural analysis of a 4.5 tesla superconducting MHD dipole magnet is presented. The magnet design combines the latest in cable-in-conduit conductor (CICC) technology, a novel quasi-momentless support configuration, and finite element modeling to demonstrate the viability of this retrofit magnet concept. With the conductor participating as a major structural element, the support system is greatly simplified, and the overall cost and risk of the magnet system is reduced. Two and three-dimensional models are used to evaluate the concept and demonstrate how the full simulation is accomplished in one ANSYS computer run