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Abstract: Degradation of the epoxy impregnated YBCO coil performance is due to tensile radial stress concentration on the outer edge of the conductor during cool down. This stress acts as a cleavage stress and opens the conductor edge, fracturing the YBCO layer. The fracture propagates to another edge of the conductor, resulting in degradation of the coil performance. Degradation of the epoxy impregnated YBCO coil is eliminated, if we use a polyimide-electrodeposited YBCO-coated conductor: tensile radial stress concentration on the outer edge of the conductor is reduced due to plastic deformation of the ductile polyimide. Polyimide electrodeposition onto the YBCO-coated conductor is reliable, uniform, easy to apply, and can be extended to larger YBCO magnets, removing the risk of coil degradation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cleavage strength for an YBCO-coated conductor at 77K was investigated with a model experiment. The nominal cleavage strength for an YBCO-coated conductor is extremely low, typically 0.5MPa. This low nominal cleavage strength is due to stress concentration on a small part of the YBCO-coated conductor in cleavage fracture. Debonding by the cleavage stress occurs at the interface between the buffer layer and the Hastelloy substrate. The nominal cleavage strength for a slit edge of the conductor is 2.5-times lower than that for the original edge of the conductor; cracks and micro-peel existing over the slit edge reduce the cleavage strength for the slit edge. Cleavage stress and peel stress should be avoided in coil winding, as they easily delaminate the YBCO-coated conductor, resulting in substantial degradation of coil performance. These problems are especially important for epoxy impregnated YBCO-coated conductor coils. It appears that effect of cleavage stress and peel stress are mostly negligible for paraffin impregnated YBCO-coated conductor coils or dry wound YBCO-coated conductor coils. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]