Work Package 16 takes charge of coordinating the commissioning of the HL-LHC equipment as part of the accelerator system. The individual validation of each component (e.g., a magnet in its cryostat or a SC link) remains the responsibility of the equipment owner and its stand-alone test is foreseen within the relevant WP.
The first important milestone for an overall system validation will be the HL-LHC Inner Triplet (IT) STRING test. The HL-LHC IT STRING comprises all circuits from Q1 to D1 with their respective cold and warm powering and protection equipment as well as their associated cryogenic and vacuum systems (i.e. the length of the machine with one single vacuum chamber containing the two beams). Following the successful installation of all related infrastructures and the warm and cold powering components in a dedicated area of SM18, the HL-LHC IT STRING will be tested under conditions as similar as possible to the operational ones and will constitute an integration and system test of an important part of the powering system upgrade.
The HL-LHC IT STRING will serve as a test bed for matters or conditions that either cannot be tested as part of the individual component acceptance and characterization program or depend on the response of the integrated system. The HL-LHC IT STRING shall therefore validate operational modes and machine protection procedures as well as the corresponding analysis, in view of the hardware commissioning and operation periods in the HL-LHC era. A validation program providing relevant information for these purposes shall be conducted.
The hardware commissioning phase should extend its activity to all equipment that will be installed in the insertion regions, like Crab Cavities and other equipment to prove their functionalities and reliability.
The hardware commissioning (HWC) activity will therefore focus on the preparation and execution of detailed procedures for the qualification of the superconducting circuits and the protection functionalities (including their individual system tests and a short circuit test campaign), the definition of the parameters and procedures for the electrical quality assurance at warm, during cooldown and at nominal cryogenic conditions and the execution of the powering tests using the consolidated operational tools obtaining the final validation of the superconducting circuits.
The coordination and collaboration with experts from the different systems will be essential both for the HL-LHC IT STRING and the definition and execution of HL-LHC Hardware Commissioning. Efficient interfaces and collaboration with the members of other packages (WP2, WP3, WP4, WP5, WP6a, PW6b, WP7, WP9, WP11, WP12, WP15, WP17 and WP18) will be assured, as well as with the Magnet Circuit Forum and Polarity Controller.
For optimal exchange of information and synergy, the coordinator of HL-LHC IT STRING and HL-LHC HWC coordinator are both co-leaders of the WP16.
The WP co-leaders are charged with the coordination of the efforts within the work package and ensure in conjunction with the HL-LHC project office the progress reporting as well as the documentation and implementation of scope, cost or schedule changes.