Search

High temperature superconductors, including Bi:2212, are being considered for high magnetic field magnets to be used in particle accelerators. A knowledge of HTS magnetization properties are needed for calculating field errors in such accelerator magnets. Here we present magnetic measurements of a 17 strand Bi:2212 Rutherford cable. The Bi:2212 strand was a Bruker OST PMM170123 non-twisted wire wound into a cable with dimensions 1.46 mm x 7.8 mm and cable pitch of 50.8 mm. M-H loop measurements were made with a Hall probe at 4.2 K. Two calibration methods were compared, (i) a flux exclusion approach, and (ii) a Ni replacement technique. The latter was found to be more reliable in this case. An effective filament diameter of 358 μm was calculated for the strand at 4.2 K and a perpendicular applied field of 3.33 T, significantly larger than the diameter of the filament bundle. Magnetization values at 1 T on the shielding branch were seen to be 100 kA/m when normalized to the total strand in the cable volume. The penetration field ≅ 0.4 T.

Interconductor contact resistivity ( ICR ) is a key property in determining the stability and current sharing of coated conductor cables. Most coated conductor cables have relatively high contact resistivity and low current sharing as fabricated because of surface roughness and an oxide layer that forms on the Cu-stabilizer. Here we work to quantify the differences in using three methods to modify ICR : sample diffusion bonding, deposition surface modification, and thin conformable inserts. At first a stack of two coated conductors was used to simulate a cable. This stack was put under transverse pressure and exposed to moderate temperatures to promote diffusion bonding via the removal of the unstable Cu-oxide layer ( ICR measurements were performed on stacks before and after diffusion bonding, for stacks with deposited surface layers, and for stacks with a smart material insert. In addition, Roebel cables were prepared with deposited layers on the individual strands and atmospherically controlled diffusion bonding, and ICR was compared between the as-received and modified Roebel cables as well as coated conductor stacks.

The development of coils that can survive a quench is crucial for demonstrating the viability of MgB(2)-based main magnet coils used in MRI systems. Here we have studied the performance and quench properties of a large (outer diameter: 901 mm; winding pack: 44 mm thick × 50.6 mm high) conduction-cooled, react-and-wind (R&W), MgB(2) superconducting coil. Minimum quench energy (MQE) values were measured at several coil operating currents (I(op)), and distinguished from the minimum energy needed to generate a normal zone (MGE). During these measurements, normal zone propagation velocities (NZPV) were also determined using multiple voltage taps placed around the heater zone. The conduction cooled coil obtained a critical current (I(c)) of 186 A at 15 K. As the operating currents (I(op)) varied from 80 A to 175 A, MQE ranged from 152 J to 10 J, and NZPV increased from 1.3 to 5.5 cm/s. Two kinds of heater were involved in this study: (1) a localized heater (“test heater”) used to initiate the quench, and (2) a larger “protection heater” used to protect the coil by distributing the normal zone after a quench was detected. The protection heater was placed on the outside surface of the coil winding. The test heater was also placed on the outside surface of the coil at a small opening made in the protection heater. As part of this work, we also developed and tested an active protection scheme for the coil. Such active protection schemes are of great interest for MgB(2)-based MRIs because they permit exploitation of the relatively large MQE values of MgB(2) to enable the use of higher J(e) values which in turn lead to competitive MgB(2) MRI designs. Finally, the ability to use a quench detection voltage to fire a protection heater as part of an active protection scheme was also demonstrated.

We present measurements on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) superconducting cables using a NbTi-wound, 3-T dipole ac magnetometer. Our goal is to measure the magnetization properties of the cables for use in accelerator magnet field error calculations. YBCO-wound CORCTM and Roebel cables were measured in pool boiling helium with no epoxy impregnation. The Roebel cable was a 9–5.6 style, while the CORCTM sample had 16 tapes, and was 3.21 mm OD. For measurement, the samples were inserted in a G-10 holder with pickup and compensation coils, and subjected to a ramping dipole field. The signals were read from a set of nanovoltmeters using data aquisition (DAQ) to monitor the pickup coils, and the data were imported into a LabVIEW software program. The Roebel and CORCTM cable measurements were compared to one another and to the tapes they were made with. Maximum cable magnetization was 1000 kA/m for the CORC and 2200 kA/m for the Roebel when normalizing to total cable volume. These values increased to 2860 and 2640 kA/m, respectively, when normalizing to tape volume.

HTS cables proposed for next-generation main, hybrid, and insert magnets will have very high I c (>10 kA) at 14 T and above. Determining the quench, current-sharing, and other properties of these cables will require measurement systems, which will likely incorporate a superconducting transformer. The utilization of high-field persistent mode solenoids will make size and cost less prohibitive, allowing a higher frequency of measurements within a larger number of research facilities. Additionally, a system designed for use with solenoids will allow for experiments at higher maximum fields than those achievable using dipoles and split coils. Proposed in this document is a bifilar sample probe, which fits within a 77-mm bore solenoid capable of measuring up to a 6-mm outer diameter conductor-on-round-core REBCO cables or wires up to 20 kA in transverse fields at 12 T and 4.2 K. Splices and mechanical considerations will be discussed.

We measured stability and quench in a YBCO pancake coil in liquid nitrogen bath (77.3 K) and in liquid helium bath (4.2 K) with externally applied magnetic fields up to 10 T. The pancake coil was instrumented with voltage taps and thermocouples in the winding for measurements of radial and azimuthal quench propagations. A heater was placed on the inner-most part of the winding. Heat pulses of various powers and durations were generated at different coil currents to measure quench and normal zone propagation. A protection circuit with a possibility of setting different quench voltage limits was used to turn off the coil current after the voltage limit was exceeded.

Purpose/Objective(s) To explore the potential application of medium temperature superconductors (MTS) and high temperature superconductors (HTS) to the development of background magnets for MRI systems for use in combination with particle beam therapy (PBT) and the concept design for MRI-guided PBT. Materials/Methods In proton/heavy ion therapy, because of the sharp dose drop off owing to the Bragg peak effect, imaging guidance becomes crucial. Various imaging techniques have been considered, but MRI, with its soft tissue contrast, 3D imaging, high spatial resolution, and potential on-live monitoring feature would be particularly useful in combination with PBT. One of the key challenges is that the charged particle beam will be deflected in a transverse magnetic field. The deflection of the particle beam in the presence of the background B0 has received significant interest, and both in-line and transverse configurations have been considered. For in-line configurations, smaller deflections are seen, with some rotation, and for transverse, greater deflection, and momentum change. With the use of a pencil beam PCT approach in combination with computation, such deflections can in principle be compensated. However, if “real time” imaging is to be enabled, minimum computation and reconstruction time is desirable. For these reasons, minimizing and simplifying the deflection is desirable. This can be enabled with the use of the in-line configuration, but in this case an in-line system compacts enough to mount on a gantry may be of interest. This can be made more achievable with the use of MTS or HTS where less bulky magnets are possible, cooling is simplified, and systems are much less quench sensitive. At the same time, the minimization of fringe fields can also substantially simplify the particle beam trajectories and minimize their deflection. This may also be enabled for open configuration transverse configurations with the use of less bulky HTS and MTS magnets. For this work we performed magnetic modelling of several different configurations of MTS and HTS magnets, both in-line and transverse, using Vector fields and other modelling software. The sizes and configurations of the MTS and HTS systems as compared to potential competing LTS systems were then compared. Particle beam trajectories were then computed with GEANT software and compared. Results (1) MTS and HTS systems can allow the development of in-line MR which are sufficiently compact, open, and robust (to quench) to allow mounting on a gantry. This reduces particle beam deflection, while at the same time allowing rotation of the beam around the patient; (2) Several designs for minimized fringe fields are given, both for in-line and transverse configurations. Conclusion MTS and HTS have a significant potential for application to MRI-guided Particle Therapy based on their potential for mounting on a gantry, and enabling of more open background magnet configurations. Magnet designs with minimized fringe fields are also possible and useful.

A 9-tape, 14 mm wide ReBCO Roebel cable was soldered onto a U-shaped holder. The critical current, Ic, was measured at 77 K and self-field. The cryostability of the cable was studied in response to the application of local pulses of 1–14 W at several values of i = I/Ic. A detailed analysis of the cable’s cryostability was presented. With a Stekly parameter α = G/Q « 1 and a heat generation margin of ∼190 kW/m2 the present ReBCO cable was shown to be ultra cryostable with respect to internally generated transport-current overload. However, the cable was much less stable against externally and locally applied disturbances because of the tendency to initiate local film boiling. A locally applied 10 W led to a prediction of a film-boiling-cooled zone with a temperature of 181 K. However, when cold-end cooling was considered, the predicted hot spot temperature decreased to 87–115 K depending on the surface-cooling efficiency. Predictions were compared to experiment extracting a cooling efficiency parameter representing the penetration of the cryogen into the cable. Experiment showed the generation of time stable normal zones which were a function of disturbance power. This led to the description of the cable stability in terms of minimum quench power; the results are presented in stability diagrams.

We have measured ReBCO coated conductor-based conductor on round core (CORC®) and Roebel cables at 77 K in a spinning magnet calorimeter, which subjected the tapes in the samples to a radial magnetic field of 566 mT (peak) at frequencies up to 120 Hz (272 T s−1, cyclic average) with an approximately sinusoidal waveform. The samples were oriented such that the field applied to the tapes within the cables was entirely radial, simplifying subsequent analysis. An expression for loss which included hysteretic, flux creep and eddy current losses was fit to both the CORC® and the Roebel cables. This expression allowed easy comparison of the relative influence of eddy currents and flux creep (or power-law behavior) effects. The loss of both the CORC ® and Roebel cables measured here were seen to be essentially the sum of the hysteretic loss, flux creep effects, and the normal metal eddy current losses of the individual tapes. The losses of these cables were measured at high B × dB/dt with no coupling current loss observed under the present preparation conditions. The influence of flux creep effects on loss were not negligible. The losses of the CORC® cable per meter of tape were seen to be reduced from the case of a flat tape because of the helical geometry of the tapes.

A new facility for the measurement of AC loss in superconductors at high dB/dt has been developed. The test device has a spinning rotor consisting of permanent magnets arranged in a Halbach array; the sample, positioned outside of this, is exposed to a time varying AC field with a peak radial field of 0.566 T. At a rotor speed of 3600 RPM the frequency of the AC field is 240 Hz, the radial dB/dt is 543 T/s and the tangential dB/dt is 249 T/s. Loss is measured using nitrogen boiloff from a double wall calorimeter feeding a gas flow meter. The system is calibrated using power from a known resistor. YBCO tape losses were measured in the new device and compared to the results from a solenoidal magnet AC loss system measurement of the same samples (in this latter case measurements were limited to a field of amplitude 0.1 T and a dB/dt of 100 T/s). Solenoidal magnet system AC loss measurements taken on a YBCO sample agreed with the Brandt loss expression associated with a 0–0.1 T Ic of 128 A. Subsequently, losses for two more YBCO tapes nominally identical to the first were individually measured in this spinning magnet calorimeter (SMC) machine with a Bmax of 0.566 T and dB/dt of up to 272 T/s. The losses, compared to a simplified version of the Brandt expression, were consistent with the average Ic expected for the tape in the 0–0.5 T range at 77 K. The eddy current contribution was consistent with a 77 K residual resistance ratio, RR, of 4.0. The SMC results for these samples agreed to within 5%. Good agreement was also obtained between the results of the SMC AC loss measurement and the solenoidal magnet AC loss measurement on the same samples.

This paper describes a detailed design of a 6-T Nb 3 Sn superconducting racetrack coil designed for conduction cooling. We then describe a bench test pursued as a proof of concept for one winding of an actively shielded air-core electric machine with superconducting field windings. Electromagnetic design selection is drawn from previous optimization work. The coil former design is then discussed. Numerical simulations of thermal and structural features are pursued to determine temperature distribution and strain within the winding. A coil instrumentation and experimental setup of a quasi-conduction cooled system is described. Finally, test results are presented; a maximum critical current of 480 A was reached at a peak temperature of 7.9 K, surpassing the operational current goal of 435 A. Future work and planned improvements to the test setup are discussed.

Filamentization has been shown to be an effective method in reducing magnetization ac loss of RE-Ba-Cu-O (REBCO) coated conductors. We have used a laser striation method followed by selective electroplating of copper to fabricate fully stabilized multifilamentary REBCO tapes with 12, 24, and 46 filaments. While expected levels of ac loss reduction has been confirmed in short segments of such multifilamentary tapes, electric coupling between the filaments of long tapes needs to be suppressed by transposition of the filaments. In this work, a technique was developed and implemented to reduce ac losses in REBCO multifilamentary coated conductors through a new design that allows us to transpose the filaments without any mechanical twisting. The process consists of patterning REBCO tapes by laser ablation followed by partial insulation and bonding. A twofold reduction of ac magnetization losses was achieved in the transposed multifilamentary REBCO tape when subject to an external perpendicular magnetic field at frequencies between 50 and 200 Hz and peak field values up to 88 mT. The filament-to-filament resistance and its effect on the coupling have also been investigated.

The high field superconducting magnets required for ongoing and planned upgrades to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be wound with Nb3Sn Rutherford cables for which reason studies of Nb3Sn strand, cable, and magnet properties will continue to be needed. Of particular importance is field quality. The amplitudes of multipoles in the bore fields of dipole and quadrupole magnets, induced by ramp-rate-dependent coupling currents, are under the control of the interstrand contact resistances—crossing-strand, $R_{c}$ , adjacent strand, $R_{a}$ , or a combination of them, $R_{{\text{eff}}}$ . Although two decades ago it was agreed that for the LHC $R_{c}$ should be in the range 10–30 μ Ω, more recent measurements of LHC quadrupoles have revealed $R_{c}$ values ranging from 95 to 230 μ Ω. This paper discusses ways in which these values can be achieved. In a heavily compacted cable $R_{{\text{eff}}}$ can be tuned to some predictable value by varying the width of an included stainless steel (effectively “insulating”) core. But cables are no longer heavily compacted with the result that the crossing strands of the impregnated cable are separated by a thick epoxy layer that behaves like an insulating core. If a stainless steel core is actually present, $R_{{\text{eff}}}$ must be independent of core width. Since there is no guarantee that a fixed predetermined amount of interlayer separation could be reproduced from winding to winding it would be advisable to include a full width core.

The coupling magnetization of a Rutherford cable is inversely proportional to an effective interstrand contact resistance R eff , a function of the crossing-strand resistance R c , and the adjacent strand resistance Ra. In cored cables, R eff continuously varies with W, the core width expressed as percent interstrand cover. For a series of un-heat-treated stabrite-coated NbTi LHC-inner cables with stainless-steel (SS, insulating) cores, R eff (W) decreased smoothly as W decreased from 100%, whereas for a set of research-wound SS-cored Nb 3 Sn cables, R eff plummeted abruptly and remained low over most of the range. The difference is due to the controlling influence of R c - 2.5 μΩ for the stabrite/NbTi and 0.26 μΩ for Nb 3 Sn. The experimental behavior was replicated in the R eff (W )'s calculated by the program CUDI, which (using the basic parameters of the QXF cable) went on to show in terms of decreasing W that: 1) in QXF-type Nb 3 Sn cables (R c = 0.26 μΩ), Reff dropped even more suddenly when the SS core, instead of being centered, was offset to one edge of the cable; 2) R eff decreased more gradually in cables with higher R c 's; and 3) a suitable R eff for a Nb 3 Sn cable can be achieved by inserting a suitably resistive core rather than an insulating (SS) one.

For many accelerator magnets field quality at the bore is a critical requirement for which reason it is necessary to fully characterize the persistent-current magnetization of strands of the kind under consideration for these magnets. The magnetization of a strand is generally measured in a magnetometer. However, certain effects can differentiate such measurements from the true magnetizations of strands in magnets. This report focuses on persistent-current magnetization: 1) measured by vibrating-sample magnetometer on segments of strand extracted from a section of heat treated Nb 3 Sn cable as functions of angle of the applied field, and 2) calculated as function of applied transport current. It is found that the magnetization of a strand in a cable increases by ~10% as the field applied to the cable is shifted from edge-on to face-on, and that the difference between the current-on and current-off magnetizations is not significant until close to the operational field of a magnet.

A dc transport current was applied to the strands of a Roebel cable at 77 K in liquid nitrogen bath. The inter-strand contact resistance was measured. It was modified either by applying a pressure on the cable at 77 K in liquid nitrogen bath or using different soldering patterns between the strands of the cable. Magnetization ac losses were measured in frequency range 50-200 Hz in applied magnetic field 4-70 mT perpendicular to the broader face of the cable to test the inter-strand contact resistance effect. High stability and very low level of coupling losses were observed in the cables even with the lowest inter-strand resistances.

Cu sheathed polycrystalline Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 superconducting wire was prepared by a two-step powderin-tube method. A pressure of 2 GPa was applied to a short sample before heat treatment. Magnetization and transport measurements were performed to investigate the effects of cold high pressure densification on the microstructure and superconductivity. The cold pressed sample shows an improved self-field transport critical current density of 2.8 10 4 A/cm 2 (Ic = 83 A) at 4.2 K, which is nearly as twice as the unpressed sample. However, both samples manifest pronounced weak-link behavior, suggesting the technique need to be further optimized. The comparison of properties between pressed and unpressed sample and related mechanism was discussed. 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.

In-field ac losses were measured on a 2 G YBCO tape by three different methods; these consisted of an M(H) loop (inductive) based method as well as two different calibration-free approaches. For the M(H) loop-based method the sample was placed inside a pick-up coil connected in series with, and in opposition to, a compensation coil. The voltage developed in series across these two coils was directly proportional to the magnetic moment of the sample. AC loss was determined from the area of the hysteresis loop generated under an externally applied cyclic field. The two separate calibration-free methods used a lock-in amplifier-based technique. The first of these used a pick-up coil wound in parallel with the ac magnet winding. Two identical systems were used, each containing an ac magnet equipped with a measuring coil. One of the magnets contained the sample and the other one was left empty. The second calibration-free method measured components of the sample's magnetic moment in a transverse ac magnetic field. Here the sample was placed inside an ac magnet; two pick-up coils were placed outside the magnet. The ac magnet, which is rectangular in shape, has an aspect ratio such that a homogeneous field is produced in the sample space and almost no stray fields are present in the pick-up coils. To measure ac loss, a z-component of the magnetic moment of the tape is determined using a dipole approximation. The AC losses for a coated conductor in fields of amplitude up to 0.14 T applied perpendicular to the broad face of the tape were measured from 36 Hz-75 Hz in a liquid nitrogen bath using all three methods. These results were compared, and a satisfactory agreement between all three methods was obtained.

SmFeAsO1-xFx type oxypnictide bulks were made via a single-step synthesis. Polycrystalline bulk samples with nominal composition SmFeAsO1-xFx (x=0.35 and 0.4) were synthesized by conventional solid state reaction using the starting powders SmF3 , Sm, Fe, Fe2O3 , and high-purity As (specifically allotrope-gray arsenic). The weighed powders were thoroughly ground by hand with a mortar and pestle and pressed into pellets in an argon-filled glove box. The pressed pellets were sealed in an evacuated quartz ampoule and heat treated at 1100°C using different ramp rates to reach the reaction temperature. Magnetization vs. temperature measurements were made on the various specimens, where a maximum onset Tc of 55 K was achieved.

A react-and-wind MgB2 coil segment for a conduction-cooled magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine has been fabricated and tested. The coil was developed as part of a collaborative effort on a conduction-cooled, MgB2-based, whole-body MRI image guided radiation therapy device. This study focuses on the fabrication, winding, instrumentation, cooling, and initial critical current (I c ) testing of this near-full-size MgB2 segment coil. The coil was 0.9 m in diameter; the winding pack, 44.0 mm wide × 50.6 mm high, used 1.7 km of an 18 filament MRI-style conductor with Nb chemical barriers, Cu interfilamentary matrices, and an outer monel sheath. The conductor was insulated and reacted before winding onto a stainless steel former. The coil was instrumented with Cernox and E-type thermocouple temperature sensors, strain sensors, and voltage taps. The conduction-cooled coil was mounted in a cryostat capable of accepting coils of up to 0.9 m in diameter and 0.5 m in height. Critical current measurements were performed as a function of temperature during a controlled heating of the coil. The operational target was I = 200 A at 13 K. The full magnet was designed to produce 0.75 T in the imaging area (at I = 200 A), with a maximum field of 1.93 T in the winding. The single segment coil measured here exceeded this operation specification, with an I c of 280 A at 15 K and a maximum field 1.93 T in the winding. The coil was modeled using a finite element method, and a load line plot showed that 100% of short sample was reached at 21.5 K and above. These measurements demonstrate the viability of conduction-cooled MgB2 background coils as replacements for liquid helium cooled NbTi background coils in future MRI devices.

A model helical undulator 250 mm in length, with a period of 14 mm, was designed, fabricated and tested. The helical coil was wound with multifilamentary, internal-Sn type Nba3Sn strand. The 0.7 mm OD strand was insulated with S-glass, wound onto the former, and reacted, after which the coil underwent vacuum epoxy impregnation. The beam aperture was 7 mm, the winding bore diameter was 8 mm, and the OD of the complete winding was 18 mm. The helical poles were made from 1016 low carbon steel, and projected slightly above the coil pack, with an OD of 19.06 mm. The coil Ic and the magnetic field in the bore were measured at 4.2 K in a liquid helium bath. The bore field was also measured as a function of position along the length of the undulator.

There are a few key conductor-specific factors which influence the power loss of superconductors; these include critical current, geometry, and normal metal resistivity. This paper focuses on the influence of sample geometry on the power loss of superconducting strips and the effect of filamentation and sample length as a function of the field penetration state of the superconductor. We start with the analytical equations for infinite slabs and strips and then consider the influence of end effects for both unstriated and striated conductor. The loss is then calculated and compared as a function of applied field for striated and unstriated conductors. These results are much more general than they might seem at first glance, since they will be important building blocks for analytic loss calculations for twisted geometries for coated conductors, including helical (Conductor on Round Core, CORC), and twisted (e.g., twist stack cables) geometries. We show that for relatively low field penetration, end effects and reduced field penetration both reduce loss. In addition, for filamentary samples the relevant ratio of length scales becomes the filament width to sample length, thus modifying the loss ratios.

AC applied magnetic field loss measurements have been performed on MgB2 superconducting strands. We measured strands with six untwisted filaments made via an in-situ route with Nb chemical barriers, a Cu-inter-filamentary matrix, and with either non-magnetic (glidcop) or magnetic (monel) outer sheaths. AC losses in magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the wire axis have been measured in fields up to 140 mT (peak) in the frequency range 50-200 Hz in a liquid helium bath at 4.2 K. For samples with no ferromagnetic elements present in their matrix there is a reasonable agreement of the losses with the critical state model in low frequency region. At higher frequencies the losses are dominated by eddy currents in Cu matrix. The samples containing a weakly ferromagnetic matrix showed complex hysteresis loops and AC loss dependencies.

A short model helical undulator, 250 mm long, with a period of 14 mm was designed, fabricated and then subsequently tested in a liquid helium bath. The helical coil was wound with stabilized multi-filamentary MgB2 strand, 0.5 mm in diameter, in a wind and react mode with S-glass insulation followed by vacuum epoxy impregnation. Beam aperture of the coil was 7 mm, winding bore diameter 8 mm, coil winding OD=18 mm and the 1010 Fe pole (flange) has an OD=19.05 mm. The coil was measured for I c and magnetic field in the bore at 4.2 K in a liquid helium bath. The bore field as a function of depth was also determined near the critical current at 4.2 K. The load line of the coil was compared to short sample I c values.

It is known that MgB2-based strands may be used in fault current limiters as a low-cost alternative to high-temperature YBCO coated conductors. Numerical modeling of the ac limiting properties of MgB2 strands with Kapton insulation and conduction cooling have been performed using a finite element method. Two 2D ac Poisson equations, one for calculating the electric field and one for determining the heat transfer were solved simultaneously with input parameters taken from experimental results. As boundary conditions, we took the full non-linear curve of the heat flux into a cryocooler cold head as well as heat radiation from the free surfaces of the wire. The influence of different values and durations of fault electric fields were studied and the maximum temperatures, limiting currents and recovery times were calculated. Obtained results may be useful for understanding the behavior of different kinds of MgB2 multifilamentary wires under conditions encountered in fault current limiter devices.

It is known from our previous work that magnetic screening is an effective way of decoupling the strands in striated YBCO coated conductors. Different configurations of multifilament geometry with filaments embedded in ferromagnetic materials of different thickness and different magnetic permeability have been modeled in the past and a reduction of transport ac loss predicted by FEM calculations. In the present work we propose a much simpler and more practical method for magnetic decoupling of the strands in YBCO coated conductors. This method consists in filling just the inter-filamentary space between the filaments by a ferromagnetic material, rather than embedding the filaments completely. Calculations of transport ac loss reduction were performed using a finite element method. A comparison of the loss reduction of this new geometry with previous results (assuming filaments completely surrounded by ferromagnetic material) as well as the case of perfect screening were made. Due to the "flat" (nearly 2D) geometry of striated YBCO coated conductors the present method gives almost the same transport ac loss reduction as completely embedding the filaments in a ferromagnetic material.

This paper presents a new synchronous motor whose stator uses 2 High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) pancake-coils wound from 2G HTS tapes and 4 conventional copper coils, while the rotor contains 75 bulk HTS elements. All superconducting materials are cooled by liquid nitrogen (77 K). The HTS and copper armature includes 3 phase circuit and is mounted in the slots of a nonmagnetic and insulating material. Each phase winding, fabricated in the form of a pancake-coil, is distributed in slots of 60-degree intervals. YBCO melt-textured pucks were incorporated into the rotor and the reluctance was tested. In addition, a unique cooling system using a copper conductor is designed, which is similar to that of a superconducting flywheel. Finally, we present and analyse results on measuring DC critical current and self-field AC loss in HTS tape supplied by American Superconductor. The measurement systems are described. The results on the AC loss measurement of YBCO samples are presented and analyzed within the framework of the critical state model.

In order to utilize MgB2 wires in AC electrical devices, it is very important to be able to understand the characteristics of MgB2 materials in the AC electromagnetic conditions and give an accurate estimate of the AC loss. A numerical method is proposed in this paper to estimate the AC loss in MgB2 wires. This method is based on solving a set of partial differential equations in which the magnetic field is used as the unknowns to get the current and electric field distributions in the cross sections of the wires, and hence the AC loss can be calculated. A commercial FEM solver is used to give an easy and fast solution for many complex geometries. This method is used to model a monocore MgB2 wire and a multifilamentary MgB2 wire. The results demonstrate that the multifilamentary MgB2 wire has a lower AC loss than monocore one when carrying the same amount of current.

Transport AC loss measurements have been made on YBCO-coated conductors prepared on two different substrate templates—RABiTS (rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrate) and IBAD (ion-beam-assisted deposition). RABiTS samples show higher losses compared with the theoretical values obtained from the critical state model, with constant critical current density, at currents lower than the critical current. An origin of this extra AC loss was demonstrated experimentally by comparison of the AC loss of two samples with different I–V curves. Despite a difference in I–V curves and in the critical currents, their measured losses, as well as the normalized losses, were practically the same. However, the functional dependence of the losses was affected by the ferromagnetic substrate. An influence of the presence of a ferromagnetic substrate on transport AC losses in YBCO film was calculated numerically by the finite element method. The presence of a ferromagnetic substrate increases transport AC losses in YBCO films depending on its relative magnetic permeability. The two loss contributions—transport AC loss in YBCO films and ferromagnetic loss in the substrate—cannot be considered as mutually independent.

We have investigated magnesium diboride wires as an element in a resistive superconducting fault current limiter using a pulsed system, which could deliver a fixed number of AC cycles to avoid burnout due to thermal instabilities. Experiments have been carried out in both liquid helium and at 27 K on magnesium diboride mono-core wires in stainless steel tubes, in a CuNi sheath with an Fe barrier and also on multifilamentary wires with Nb barriers. Experiments showed good current limiting in the first cycle and no damage after six cycles. Also wires with a number of voltage contacts spaced at about 1 cm intervals to assess the effect of inhomogeneity were tested. Relatively small differences in local Jc led to large differences in the local temperature rise although in no case did this lead to failure of the conductor. The results were compared with those on Bi-2223/Ag tapes and YBCO coated conductors measured in liquid nitrogen.

Cheap to make and easy to shape, Magnesium Di-boride (MgB2) throws the field of applied superconductivity wide open. Great efforts have been made to develop a superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) using MgB2. With a superconducting transition temperature of 39 K, MgB2 can be conveniently cooled with commercial cryocoolers. A cryogenic desktop test system, an ac pulse generation system and a real time data acquisition program in LabView/DAQmx were developed to investigate the quench behavior of MgB2 wires under pulse overcurrents at 25 K in self-field conditions. The experimental results on the current limitation behavior show the possibilities for using MgB2 for future SFCL applications.

A superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) in series with a downstream circuit breaker could provide a viable solution to controlling fault current levels in electrical distribution networks. In order to integrate the SFCL into power grids, we need a way to conveniently predict the performance of the SFCL in a given scenario. In this paper, short circuit analysis based on the Electromagnetic Transient Program was used to investigate the operational behavior of the SFCL installed in an electrical distribution grid. System studies show that the SFCL can not only limit the fault current to an acceptable value, but also mitigate the voltage sag. The transient recovery voltage (TRV) could be remarkably damped and improved by the presence of the SFCL after the circuit breaker is opened to clear the fault.

Transport ac losses of parallel arrays of superconducting tapes with an elliptical cross-section carrying mutually anti-parallel currents were modeled numerically by finite element method. Two different configurations-tapes positioned edge to edge (x-array) and tapes positioned face to face (y-array) were considered. It was found that an x-array increases the losses while a y-array decreases them-relative to infinitely distant tapes. The highest ac loss decrease is observed when the tapes are close to each other in y-array. The AC loss of a y-array made of various numbers of tapes was compared with the loss of an array made of round wires. It was found that y-arrays of tapes have lower loss than arrays of round wires. Bringing y-arrays of tapes close to each other in the x direction causes a significant increase in ac loss. The present analysis may be useful if considering fault current limiters made of straight conductors in a meandering configuration. The results are qualitatively valid also for a fault current limiter made of non-inductive (bifilar) windings in the form of several pancake coils, each coil wound non-inductively (i.e. with anti-parallel currents).

Various MgB2 wires with different sheath materials provided by Hyper Tech Research Inc., have been tested in the superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) desktop tester at 24–26 K in a self-field. Samples 1 and 2 are similarly fabricated monofilamentary MgB2 wires with a sheath of CuNi, except that sample 2 is doped with SiC and Mg addition. Sample 3 is a CuNi sheathed multifilamentary wire with Cu stabilization and Mg addition. All the samples with Nb barriers have the same diameter of 0.83 mm and superconducting fractions ranging from 15% to 27% of the total cross section. They were heat-treated at temperatures of 700 °C for a hold time of 20–40 min. Current limiting properties of MgB2 wires subjected to pulse overcurrents have been experimentally investigated in an AC environment in the self-field at 50 Hz. The quench currents extracted from the pulse measurements were in a range of 200–328 A for different samples, corresponding to an average engineering critical current density (Je) of around 4.8 × 104 A cm−2 at 25 K in the self-field, based on the 1 µV cm−1 criterion. This work is intended to compare the quench behaviour in the Nb-barrier monofilamentary and multifilamentary MgB2 wires with CuNi and Cu/CuNi sheaths. The experimental results can be applied to the design of fault current limiter applications based on MgB2 wires.

A laboratory scale desktop test system including a cryogenic system, an AC pulse generation system and a real time data acquisition program in LabView/DAQmx, has been developed to evaluate the quench properties of MgB2 wires as an element in a superconducting fault current limiter under pulse overcurrents at 25 K in self-field conditions. The MgB2 samples started from a superconducting state and demonstrated good current limiting properties characterized by a fast transition to the normal state during the first half of the cycle and a continuously limiting effect in the subsequent cycles without burnouts. The experimental and numerical simulation results on the quench behaviour indicate the feasibility of using MgB2 for future superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) applications.

This paper gives a conceptual design of a superconducting synchronous motor consisting of both high-temperature superconducting rotating field winding and armature winding. The AC losses of the armature winding of the motor have been investigated experimentally and numerically, by considering the self-field of the superconducting coils and the rotating magnetic field exposed on the armature winding. The recent developments of YBCO-coated conductors present the possibility of achieving a wholly superconducting machine of significantly smaller size and weight than a conventional machine. Both the rotating field winding and the armature winding are composed of YBCO high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils. A low AC loss armature winding design has been developed for this superconducting synchronous motor. The performance of the machine was investigated by modelling with the finite-element method. The machine's torque is calculated from first principles by considering the angle between the field and the armature main flux lines.

Single grain rare earth barium cuprate [(RE)BCO] high temperature superconductors can trap large magnetic fields. In principle, samples can be stacked to form a quasipermanent magnet with a high length to width aspect ratio for engineering applications. The flux trapping properties of a stack of ring-shaped samples of Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) were measured both on the surface and through the bore. Significant discrepancies between the experimental results and the predictions of a simple theory based on the Biot-Savart model were observed. These differences can be accounted for by the presence of a high density of small cracks parallel to the ab planes, which inhibit the circulation of current around the sample.

The magnetic field profiles above Ag/BSCCO-2223 tapes of multifilamentary and multilayer configurations, whilst carrying transport currents, are compared with those predicted from their AC losses. These tapes show AC losses which follow the critical state equation for losses in a conductor of elliptical cross-section and therefore the magnetic field above the tapes during a current cycle can be predicted. We compare these predicted profiles with Hall probe measurements made when the tapes are carrying both AC and DC transport currents and with magneto-optical images.

In this study, a two layer conductor on round core cable was tested for stability and normal zone propagation at 77 K in a liquid nitrogen bath. The cable was instrumented with voltage taps and wires on each strand over the cable’s central portion (i.e. excluding the end connections of the cable with the outside world). A heater was placed in the central zone on the surface of the cable, which allowed pulses of various powers and durations to be generated. Shrinking (recovering) and expanding (not recovering) normal zones have been detected, as well as stationary zones which were in thermal equilibrium. Such stationary thermal equilibrium zones did not expand or contract, and hit a constant upper temperature while the heater current persisted; they are essentially a form of Stekly stability. Overall, the cable showed a high degree of stability. Notably, it was able to carry a current of 0.45Ic cable with maximum temperature of 123 K for one minute without damage.

Magnetic materials can help to improve the performance of practical superconductors on the macroscale/microscale as magnetic diverters and also on the nanoscale as effective pinning centres. It has been established by numerical modelling that magnetic shielding of the filaments reduces AC losses in self-field conditions due to decoupling of the filaments and, at the same time, it increases the critical current of the composite. This effect is especially beneficial for coated conductors, in which the anisotropic properties of the superconductor are amplified by the conductor architecture. However, ferromagnetic coatings are often chemically incompatible with YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) and (Pb,Bi)(2)Sr(2)Ca(2)Cu(3)O(9) conductors, and buffer layers have to be used. In contrast, in MgB(2) conductors an iron matrix may remain in direct contact with the superconducting core. The application of superconducting-magnetic heterostructures requires consideration of the thermal and electromagnetic stability of the superconducting materials used. On one hand, magnetic materials reduce the critical current gradient across the individual filaments but, on the other hand, they often reduce the thermal conductivity between the superconducting core and the cryogen, which may cause destruction of the conductor in the event of thermal instability. A possible nanoscale method of improving the critical current density of superconducting conductors is the introduction of sub-micron magnetic pinning centres. However, the volumetric density and chemical compatibility of magnetic inclusions has to be controlled to avoid suppression of the superconducting properties.

A Roebel cable, one twist pitch long, was modified from its as-received state by soldering copper strips between the strands to provide inter-strand connections enabling current sharing. Various DC transport currents (representing different percentages of its critical current) were applied to a single strand of such a modified cable at 77 K in a liquid nitrogen bath. Simultaneous monitoring of I–V curves in different parts of the strand as well as in its interconnections with other strands was made using a number of sensitive Keithley nanovoltmeters in combination with a multi-channel high-speed data acquisition card, all controlled via LabView software. Current sharing onset was observed at about 1.02 of strand Ic. At a strand current of 1.3Ic about 5% of the current was shared through the copper strip interconnections. A finite element method modeling was performed to estimate the inter-strand resistivities required to enable different levels of current sharing. The relative contributions of coupling and hysteretic magnetization (and loss) were compared, and for our cable and tape geometry, and at dB/dt = 1 T s−1, and our inter-strand resistance of 0.77 mΩ, (enabling a current sharing of 5% at 1.3Ic ) the coupling component was 0.32% of the hysteretic component. However, inter-strand contact resistance values of 100–1000 times smaller (close to those of NbTi and Nb3Sn based accelerator cables) would make the coupling components comparable in size to the hysteretic components.

Described are the results of magnetization loss measurements made at 77 K on several YBCO conductor-on-round-core (CORC) cables in ac magnetic fields of up to 80 mT in amplitude and frequencies of 50 to 200 Hz, applied perpendicular to the cable axis. The cables contained up to 40 tapes that were wound in as many as 13 layers. Measurements on the cables with different configurations were made as functions of applied ac field amplitude and frequency to determine the effects of their layout on ac loss. In large scale devices such as e.g. Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) magnets, the observed ac losses represent less than 0.1% of their stored energy.

Unlike the known isoelectronic undoped intrinsic FeAs compounds, LiFeAs does not show any spin-density wave behavior but exhibits superconductivity at ambient pressures without chemical doping. It has a superconducting transition temperature, Tc, of 18 K with electron-like carriers and a very high 0 K upper critical magnetic field, Bc2(0), of greater than 80 T making the compound suitable for many high magnetic field applications at cryogenic temperatures. Oxypnictide materials are known for a complexity of their methods of preparation. The reported methods of LiFeAs preparation are based on the solid-state reaction at high temperatures (740 °-1050 °C) for long times (24-60 h). In the present work a simple electrochemical route is proposed for the preparation of a pnictide LiFeAs superconductor. During electrolysis, Li ions in the electrolyte become inserted into the FeAs lattice to form LiFeAs on the surface of the FeAs electrode. The proposed method differs from the existing electrochemical method and also from the traditional high temperature solid-state reaction methods. It is promising for the preparation of LiFeAs bulks and large scale LiFeAs films or tapes for various electric power or high magnetic field applications at cryogenic temperatures.

We present a design and details of construction of two calorimetric systems that allow us to measure the total loss in high temperature superconducting coils or linear samples carrying alternating current while exposed to a strong alternating magnetic field. This measurement technique is based on the boil-off of liquid nitrogen. The first system is designed to measure ac losses in superconducting coils in self-field generated by AC transport current. The second system contains a permanent magnet rotor and simulates the environment of an electric motor or generator. The sensitivity of the system is such that it can measure low losses from a few milliwatts to several hundred milliwatts, in either a static or dynamic magnetic field.