CMS coil design and assembly

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of the general-purpose detectors to be provided for the LHC project at CERN. The design field of the CMS superconducting magnet is 4 T, the magnet length is 12.5 m, and the free bore is 6 m. The construction phase of the superconducting coil is now in full progress. Due to the size and characteristics of the coil (4 T central field, 2.7 GJ stored energy) , its design and the practical realization thereof require solutions which are more than extrapolations of those previously used for superconducting solenoids dedicated to physics experiments. This paper summarizes the coil design with a particular emphasis on the engineering aspects of its components, and their status. The developments that have been done to validate the solutions that are now finalized, will be reported. Finally, the assembly scenario of the coil, which will be mainly done in a vertical position before swiveling to a horizontal position, will be described. (16 refs).