Production of Austenitic Steel for the LHC Superconducting Dipole Magnets

The austenitic-steel collars are an important component of the LHC dipole magnets, operating at cryogenic temperature under high mechanical stress. The required steel, known as YUS 130S, has been specifically developed for this application by Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC), who was awarded a CERN contract in 1999 for the supply of 11 500 tonnes. In 2005 - after six years of work - the contract is being successfully completed, with final production being ensured since October 2003 by Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation (NSSC). The paper describes the steel properties, its manufacturing and quality control process, organization of production, logistics and contract follow-up. Extensive statistics have been collected relating to mechanical, physical and technological parameters. Specific attention is dedicated to measurements of magnetic permeability performed at cryogenic temperatures by CERN, the equipment used and statistical results. Reference is also made to the resulting precision of the fineblanked collars.