Characterization of Nb$_3$Sn Rutherford Cable Degradation Due to Strands Cross-Over

The quadrupole and dipole magnets for the LHC High Luminos-ity (HL-LHC) upgrade will be based on Nb$_{3}$Sn Rutherford ca-bles that operate at 1.9 K and experience magnetic fields larger than 12 T. The Nb$_{3}$Sn Rutherford cables are assembled via by a planetary machine able to produce the trapezoidal geometry with the required mechanical tolerances (about $\pm$ 0.01 mm) and low critical current degradation (<5%). One of the critical as-pects of Rutherford cable production is the control of the tension that is applied to each strand of the cable during the cabling process. If the strands are too loose during cabling, strands cross-over can be induced with a consequent locally high me-chanical deformation and potential performance degradation. In this paper the processes implemented at CERN for preventing and detecting strands cross-over during cables production are presented. The effect of cross-over on the electrical performance of a RRP - Rutherford cable is also reported and discussed.