Experimental Test of a New Method to Verify Retraction Margins Between Dump Absorbers and Tertiary Collimators at the LHC

The protection of the tertiary collimators (TCTs) and the LHC triplet aperture in case of a so-called asynchronous beam dump relies on the correct retraction between the TCTs and the dump region absorbers. A new method to validate this retraction has been proposed, and a proof-of-principle experiment was performed at the LHC. The method uses a long orbit bump to mimic the change of the beam trajectory caused by an asynchronous firing of the extraction kickers. It can, thus, be performed with circulating beam. This paper reports on the performed beam measurements, compares them with expectations and discusses the potential benefits of the new method for machine protection.