Inverse Problem-Based Magnetic Characterization of Weekly Magnetic Alloys

Understanding the magnetic properties of materials used in accelerator components is becoming more and more important. For example, in the upcoming LHC upgrade at CERN, the increasing luminosity will boost the radiation dose received by the accelerator magnet's coil and consequently decrease its lifespan. Hence, a radiation shield with relative permeability less than 1.005 is required. The goal of this research is to design and validate a new method for characterizing weekly magnetic materials, suitable to be used in quality control of series production. The proposed method is based on inverse analysis approach coupled with a finite-element model. A material with unknown permeability is inserted in the air gap of a dipole magnet and the consequent perturbations of the dipole background flux density are measured. The magnetic permeability is then identified through gray-box inverse modelling, based on a finite-element approach. The results have been used to predict the magnetic impact of the radiation shield and develop further research on this subject.