Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Pulsés CNRS – INSA

important part of the broader approach activity as a satellite program for ITER. The Toroidal Field
(TF) coils are a European contribution and they will partly be built in France. This study is
performed in collaboration with Alstom and IRFM, CEA, Cadarache, France.
High Tc superconductors open extremely interesting perspectives for very high field
applications such as high field magnets for NMR or SMES, nuclear fusion or future colliders. These
materials make possible to operate at temperatures higher than 4.2 K. Institut Néel and the LNCMI
have decided to build a Variable Temperature Insert (VTI) for Ic measurements, in the frame of the
“Super SMES” ANR project, in collaboration with Nexans, IRFU/CEA Saclay and the LNCMI.
This VTI is an extremely useful tool for the very high field magnet developments with high Tc
superconductors.
Magnesium Diboride (MgB2) is a potential alternative to the Nb-based superconductor due
to its rather raw material costs, its possibility for cryocooler use at around 20 K and its reasonable
upper critical field (Hc2) values. [Wan09], [Zha09], [Ma07], [Wan07] I [Mal08] These studies
take place in the frame of projects on MRI.
The collaboration with NIN Xi’an takes place within the framework of a French-Chinese
“Laboratoire International Associé” [Gao07a], [Gao07b], [Xu07], [Xu06], [Li07], [Fen05],
[Xu05a], [Xu05b].
Magneto-sciences
Contibutor: F. Debray LNCMI,
Collaborations :E. Beaugnon CRETA UPS 2070,
JP Chopart LACM-DTI, LRC CEA, Université de Reims
Th. Alboussière LGIT, UJF
Magnetosciences concern the magnetic field effects in processes, including physical, chemical and biological
processes. Such effects come from electromagnetic interactions that can be divided in two main categories:
MHD (Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic) and MS (Magneto-Static). Effects also often combine both and include
other kinds of interactions.
This activity has strongly developed at LNCMI during the last 4 years, leading to the creation of a dedicated
branch of expertise in the program committee of the laboratory. About 15 projects are led now per year at the
laboratory in this domain, which represents about 10 % of the total number of project. Considering the last 4
years of activity, we can subdivide this domain in three branches.
1- Electrochemistry under high magnetic field 1,2
2 - Metallurgy under high magnetic field 3
3 - Magnetohydrodynamics (turbulence under magnetic fields, Alfen waves).
Most of the experiments performed in Magnetosciences are made on large diameter bore magnet. Three
configurations are used at the laboratory, 6 T in 284 mm (5MW), 13 T in 130 mm (10 MW) and 19 T in 160
mm (20 MW).
The need for large bore is a specific need of this field of research, it is easily understandable for domain 2
(need of oven to be inserted in the bore) and domain 3 (sufficient range of scale between viscous scale and
apparatus scale.
For electrochemistry, part of the experiments could be performed at higher field, miniaturization of
electrochemical cells is then an axis of development for this activity.
To strengthen this research domain in Europe, the CNRS has created in 2008 a GDRE (Groupement de
Recherche Européen) called GAMAS. This is actually the CNRS’s largest structure of this kind.LNCMI and
CRETA have contributed to the preparation of GAMAS and have promoted the creation of a transversal
Working Package to promote the use of high magnetic fields in the four domains of the GDRE namely,
Magneto static, Applied MHD, Magnetic fluids and Magneto electrolysis. The facility in LNCMI is
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