Engineering design of a superconducting magnet for gravity compensation

Abstract Magnetic compensation of gravity allows for ground-based experiments to be carried out under weightless conditions at reasonable cost and without time limitation of the systems such as zero-g airplanes or drop towers. In this paper a superconducting magnet for gravity compensation is described. The magnet warm bore diameter is 382mm and the centre magnetic field is about 2T. The magnet is comprised by nine solenoid coils wound on two separated mandrels. The magnet is conduction cooled by two GM cryocoolers. The cryostat design and analysis are present in this paper, including the heat load analysis and cold mass support system design. Thermal and mechanical design of the cold mass are discussed in this paper, especially the temperature difference and the mechanical stress in the cold mass assembly. Cooling down and charging results show that the magnet can run at its design current very well.