Analysis and Operational Feedback of the New High-Energy Beam Dump in the CERN SPS

The CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) high-energy internal dump (TIDVG) is used to intercept beam dumps from 10².2 to 450 GeV. An inspection in 2013 revealed significant beam induced damage to the aluminium absorbing block, resulting in operational limitations to minimize the risk of reproducing this phenomenon. Additionally, in 2016 a vacuum leak was detected in the dump assembly, which imposed further limitations, i.e., a reduction of the beam intensity that could be dumped. In the winter stop of 2016-2017, a new version of the TIDVG (featuring several design modifications) was installed. This paper analyses the performance of the dump observed during the commissioning period and subsequent operation in 2017 of the most recent installed version of the TIDVG. The temperature measurements recorded during this time were used to benchmark numerical models that allow predicting the performance of the dump under different conditions. After several iterations, a good agreement between simulations and real measurements was obtained; resulting in numerical models that can produce reliable results for this and other devices with similar design.