An Optimal Design Method for Multi-Section Superconducting Magnets

It is important for the efficiency of superconductor utilization to minimize winding volume of superconducting magnets. In order to reduce the winding volume, the magnet is usually subdivided into a number of concentric sections wound from wires of different diameters and each section is operated at the maximum current density allowed by the local magnetic field level from an idealistic viewpoint. In this paper, we propose a novel optimal design method to realize the minimum volume design for multi-section superconducting magnets by using the Augmented Lagrangian Multiplier Method. The Augmented Lagrangian Multiplier Method is one of the most superior method to solve the constrained nonlinear programming problem. The details of the algorithm and several examples of its application are shown.