LHC magnet quench test with beam loss generated by wire scan

Beam losses with millisecond duration have been observed in the LHC in 2010 and 2011. They are thought to be provoked by dust particles falling into the beam. These losses could compromise the LHC availability if they provoke quenches of superconducting magnets. In order to investigate the quench limits for this loss mechanism, a quench test using a wire scanner has been performed, with the wire movement through the beam mimicking a loss with similar spatial and temporal distribution as in the case of dust particles. This paper will show the conclusions reached for millisecond-duration dust-provoked quench limits. It will include details on the maximum energy deposited in the coil as estimated using FLUKA code, showing a reasonable agreement with quench limit estimated from the heat transfer code QP3. In addition, information on the damage limit for carbon wires in proton beamswill be presented, following electronmicroscope analysis which revealed strong wire sublimation.