Mechanical tests on the prototype LHC lattice quadrupole

A prototype twin superconducting quadrupole magnet for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being developed and built at CEN/Saclay in collaboration with CERN. This paper describes the mechanical tests performed to validate the main concepts of the mechanical design in order to meet the requirements of prestress while maintaining a precise geometrical shape of the coils. Moulding tests on samples of superconducting cables have been made in order to evaluate the final size of the coils after curing and under stress. Collaring tests have been made on small length models to verify the process and the resulting prestress. The principal results and conclusions of the tests are summarized