THE EFFECT OF POLYMER ADDITIVES AND RESIDUAL ELEMENTS ON THECRYOGENIC PERFORMANCE AND RADIATION RESISTANCE OF INSULATORSFOR HIGH-FIELD MAGNETS

THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF ACCELERATORS, FLEXIBILIZERS, AND METALLIC AND NONMETALLIC RESIDUAL ELEMENTS ON THE CRYOGENIC FATIGUE LIFE OF INSULATING MATERIALS USED IN SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS. THESE ADDITIVES ALTER THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF EPOXY-RESIN SYSTEMS AND THUSWILL AFFECT THE RESPONSE OF THE MATERIAL TO RADIATION AND LOW TEMPERATURES. AN INTEGRATED, INNOVATIVE PROPRIETARY APPROACH WILL USE FACILITIES SPECIFICALLY DEVELOPED FOR RAPID PRODUCTION AND TESTING OF NEAT RESIN AND COMPOSITE SPECIMENS. THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURES OF THESE HIGH QUALITY SPECIMENS WILL BE DETERMINED BY INFRARED TECHNIQUES; THEIR THERMAL PROPERTIES, BY DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY; AND THE TYPE AND AMOUNT OF RESIDUAL ELEMENTS, BY MASS SPECTROSCOPY. THE MATERIALS THEN WILL BE SUBJECTED TO DESTRUCTIVE TORSIONAL SHEAR, TORSIONAL FATIGUE, AND CRACK- GROWTH TESTS AT 295 AND 77 K. THIS WORK IS THE FOUNDATION FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF IRRADIATION. FROM IT, A MODEL RELATING THE CHANGE IN CHEMICAL STRUCTURE TO MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR AT CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES WILL BE DEVELOPED.