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Extended Summary

Chapter 12. Sensitivity Analysis of a Superconducting Magnet Design Model

Using SimDec to Understand What Drives Engineering Outcomes

Authors: Manuel García Pérez, Mariia Kozlova, Susana Izquierdo Bermúdez, Juan Carlos Pérez, and Julian Scott Yeomans
Source: Kozlova, M., & Yeomans, J. S. (Eds.). (2024). Sensitivity Analysis for Business, Technology, and Policymaking: Made Easy with Simulation Decomposition (SimDec). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003453789
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

📖 Read full Chapter 12: Ch12.pdf

When physics, design, and uncertainty meet

What happens when you design the next generation of superconducting magnets—for a future particle collider—and need to balance safety, performance, and cost, all at once?

This chapter shows how Simulation Decomposition (SimDec) helps engineers explore complex, high-stakes design problems using simulation results.
Instead of black-box outputs or endless tables, SimDec reveals what drives key performance indicators like stress, energy requirements, and material usage—so better decisions can be made earlier and with more confidence.

Engineering challenge: 16 Tesla magnets for future colliders

The case focuses on magnet prototypes developed for CERN's Future Circular Collider (FCC)—a planned successor to the Large Hadron Collider. These magnets must achieve a 16 Tesla magnetic field, far beyond today’s limits.

The design involves:

  • High-performance Nb₃Sn superconducting cables
  • Mechanical preload systems using bladders and interference shims
  • Cooling cycles from room temperature to cryogenic conditions
  • Huge Lorentz forces during operation

It’s a multi-physics, multi-objective engineering problem where failure is not an option.

How SimDec supports magnet design

The team simulated over 8,000 design combinations, varying:

  • Cable dimensions
  • Shell thickness
  • Number of windings
  • Geometry of the mechanical supports (yoke, shims, pushers)

Key outputs included:

  • Required current to reach 16.5 T
  • Stress on coils during assembly, cooling, and operation
  • Bladder pressure needed to create the correct preload
  • Conductor area (a cost proxy)

With SimDec, they could:

  • Visualize how each design parameter affects performance
  • Detect hidden interactions (e.g. how shim position only matters under specific conditions)
  • Understand where precision matters and where simpler designs might be sufficient

What they discovered

  • Just two inputs—cable height and number of windings—fully explain current and conductor area.
  • Stress distributions shift depending on which stage you analyze (preload, cooldown, powering).
  • Shell thickness and yoke radius drive mechanical interference and bladder pressure.
  • SimDec revealed local effects: some variables only matter when others are fixed.

🎯 Key takeaway: Not every parameter is equally important. And some only matter under certain scenarios.

Why this matters for engineering teams

  • Helps prioritize design decisions and focus prototyping effort
  • Supports trade-offs between performance, cost, and feasibility
  • Replaces trial-and-error with structured sensitivity analysis
  • Speeds up design cycles by showing which parameters are worth refining

This approach isn’t just for magnets—it can be applied to mechanical systems, energy devices, aerospace structures, and beyond.

Want to try this kind of analysis yourself?

🔗 Browse simulation models and tools at: github.com/Simulation-Decomposition

Attribution

Based on Chapter 12 of Sensitivity Analysis for Business, Technology, and Policymaking
© Manuel García Pérez, Mariia Kozlova, Susana Izquierdo Bermúdez, Juan Carlos Pérez, and Julian Scott Yeomans, 2024 — CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
This summary is an independent derivative work created for educational and indexing purposes, not affiliated with the original publisher.