Hot Spot in ATLAS Barrel Toroid Quenches

The ATLAS Barrel Toroid, the largest toroid ever built with 1.1 GJ stored energy, has been successfully tested after installation in the underground cavern in fall 2006. The eight coils of the Barrel Toroid were tested individually before and showed fully acceptable performances. We observed only one training quench during an individual coil test (at 30 A below the maximum test current) and no training during the test of the fully assembled toroid. At currents up to the nominal value of 20.5 kA, the toroid has been quenched inducing normal zones by means of heaters or by stopping the helium flow in the current leads. The quench safety system worked perfectly. Given the safe peak temperatures measured in the cold mass following various quenches, it is concluded that the Barrel Toroid can be operated safely. In this paper, the hot spot of the toroid is presented in detail: the measurement data are compared to various theoretical models.