Three 70 mm aperture 1-meter superconducting quadrupole magnets for the LHC
low-beta insertions have been designed and built in collaboration between
CERN and Oxford Instruments. These magnets feature a four layer coil wound
from two 8.2 mm wide graded NbTi cables. In this paper we present the resul
ts from the tests at 4.4 K and 1.9 K of the third quadrupole (Q3), with an
emphasis on studies concerning quench protection. After a summary of Q3 tra
ining in three thermal cycles, quench velocities, peak temperatures in the
two superconducting cables and the performance of the layer strip heaters a
re reported.