Minimum propagating zone of the SSC superconducting dipole cable

We have studied the time evolution of a concentrated disturbance in superconducting cables. If the initial energy of the disturbance is small, the disturbance temperature profile spreads out, approaches a critical temperature profile slowly, and subsides eventually. If the energy in the disturbance is big enough, the disturbance also spreads out until it reaches a critical profile. After that, however, the temperature rises everywhere resulting in a quench. In both cases, no nontrivial steady state has been reached. These results inspire us to study propagating solutions instead. They are heated zones whose temperature grows at all points along the cable. The propagating solution which contains the least energy is called the minimum propagating zone (MPZ). In Section 3, these propagating zones are approximated using the steady-state heat flow equation. We find that the energy in the approximate MPZ gives the correct order-of-magnitude estimate to the minimum energy required to cause a quench. In Section 2, we list and define all the input information required in the heat flow equation. The results of the computation are discussed. Finally, some remarks and conclusions are given