Large superconducting magnets

Superconducting magnets are indispensable for magnetically confined fusion plasmas. The state of the art is two orders of magnitude off the goal if stored energy is considered. Nevertheless a major step has been made by recent developments. A contribution to general design principles and specific designs will be given. The first part of the considerations is devoted to the composite conductors which is a major fraction of the system. The second part deals with the coil design itself where the leading role is played by the large forces which the coil will experience under operating and fault conditions. Finally a description of specific projects like LCT, Tore-II, or MFTF is made. (author)