Measurements of the persistent current decay and snapback effect in Nb3Sn Fermilab-built accelerator prototype magnets

In recent years, Fermilab has been performing an intensive R an D program on Nb3Sn accelerator magnets. This program has included dipole and quadrupole magnets for different programs and projects, including LARP and VLHC. A systematic study of the persistent current decay and snapback effect in the fields of these magnets was executed at the Fermilab Magnet Test Facility. The decay and snapback were measured under a range of conditions including variations of the current ramp parameters and flattop and injection plateau durations. This study has mostly focused on the dynamic behavior of the normal sextupole and dodecapole components in dipole and quadrupole magnets respectively. The paper summarizes the recent measurements and presents a comparison with previously measured NbTi magnets.