Parametric method application in the field and structure design of Discrete Cosine–Theta (DCT) superconducting coil

Abstract In recent years, Discrete Cosine–Theta (DCT) superconducting magnets have garnered increased attention because of their intrinsic characteristics of highly homogeneous magnetic field and low stress accumulation, making DCT superconducting coils particularly suitable for compact medical accelerators. However, the complex geometric features limit the multifield characteristics research and manufacturing of curved DCT superconducting coils. Notably, the development of a complete model has always been a major challenge for these superconducting magnets. This study focusses on the design of curved DCT superconducting coils based on a parametric approach. A parametric 3D solid modeling method for multilayer curved DCT magnets has been successfully developed and optimized, enabling efficient model generation without reliance on the traditional CAD software. In particular, an electromagnetic (EM) model was created using COMI scripting language and solved with Opera 3D software. A finite element model was created using APDL scripting language and solved with ANSYS software. Frameworks for script generation in two environments were developed, utilizing the same logical framework. Through this method, coils with arbitrary conductor cross-section shapes can be created. EM field calculations and optimizations, further enabling structural analysis, have been achieved. More importantly, this method ensures complete consistency between the EM model and the structural model, efficiently realizing coupling analysis among multiple physical fields, as well as aiding in load transfer. Finally, this design method has been validated on a multilayer nested curved DCT magnet, successfully achieving magnetic field and structural calculations for intricate multilayer curved DCT coils.