To power the neutrino focusing horns for the upcoming Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), 300,000 amperes of current will flow through nine aluminum conductors held at 5,000V from the power supply to the focusing horn. Each time power is pulsed through these conductors, often called stripline, magnetic forces are generated. These magnetic forces try to push the conductors away from each other with a tremendous force of nearly 200 pounds per foot of conductor. Hundreds of heavy duty, custom bar clamps are used to hold the stripline together and prevent fatigue failure of the conductors. Most of the stripline resides in a radiation environment that makes it impossible to use copper, high strength steels, and most plastics in any stripline design. An older lower voltage stripline for the NuMI experiment using eight conductors can be seen on the right in the above pictures.
For this project I collaborate with electrical engineers to design isolators, conductors , clamps, electrical connectors, thermal expansion systems, and support systems capable of withstanding these forces for the 30 year lifetime of the structure. Using FEA and hand calculations I have performed careful fatigue analysis on components to ensure the conductors will last through their one-billion cycle lifetime while balancing project cost.
To test the high voltage performance of the structures I developed several prototypes such as the one shown in the left photo above. The prototypes ensured the designs can be run at 5,000V without arcing or corona discharge before the production assemblies were purchased and assembled.
