Large-scale structural analysis of the Large Coil Test Facility

NASTRAN automatic substructuring was chosen as the finite element method to be used for the Large Coil Test Facility (LCTF) test stand design analysis. This paper describes some of the practical aspects of the test stand structural analysis. The LCTF test stand analysis involves extensive consideration of the usefulness of substructuring, the effectiveness of vendor-supplied and locally developed pre- and postprocessing finite element software, and the efficient utilization of limited computing resources. These considerations plus the analysis problems encountered during the LCTF test stand large-scale analysis are addressed. The LCTF at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will provide an environment for the testing of a compact, toroidal, six-electromagnet array. The six toroidal field (TF) magnets within this array are D-shaped with inner bore dimensions of 2.5*3.5 m in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. They are designed-operate at a current of 10-18 Ka at a peak magnetic field of 8 T, while being subjected to pulsed magnetic fields. The test stand provides restraint for in-plane and out-of-plane TF magnet loading conditions while supporting one to six dissimilar coils. 19 refs.