Mechanical behavior and compressive rigidity of the superconducting poloidal coil pack for large helical device

On the development of the superconducting poloidal coil, it is important to examine the mechanical behavior and the compressive rigidity of the coil at liquid helium temperature. The superconducting poloidal coils are subjected to the compressive stress of about 20-35 MPa. This paper deals with the displacement and strain analysis of the superconducting poloidal coil pack under compressive load at liquid helium temperature. Finite element method is used for the numerical analysis of the composite structure of the coil pack. The numerical results of displacements and strains are obtained and compared with the experimental results. The validity of numerical analysis for evaluating the rigidity of the coil pack is also discussed. (author)