Investigation of the electromechanical behaviors in Cu-stabilized GdBCO coated conductor tapes using high-cycle fatigue tests at 77 K and related fractographic observations.

In applications employing high-temperature superconducting conductors, various cyclic loading (fatigue) conditions produced by mechanical, thermal, or periodic electromagnetic forces are inevitable. Applying coated conductor (CC) tapes under fatigue loading conditions is expected to critically affect the long-term reliability of its superconducting performance. Most studies evaluating the mechanical and electromechanical characteristics use quasi-static uniaxial tensile tests. Few have focused on the characterization of CC tapes under fatigue loading. In this study, the electromechanical property characterization of Cu-stabilized GdBa₂Cu₃O_y (GdBCO) CC tapes including fatigue behaviors were investigated at 77 K. High-cycle uniaxial fatigue tests were carried out on GdBCO CC tapes 4 and 12 mm in width, and the two were compared in terms of mechanical and electromechanical aspects at a stress ratio of 0.1. The mechanical and electrical fatigue limits of the CC tapes were determined at 77 K. The 4 mm wide CC tapes showed less fatigue limits when compared to the 12 mm wide ones. However, regardless of the CC tape width, the sequence in the obtained characteristic strengths at 77 K was the same: yield strength > irreversible stress limit > mechanical fatigue limit > electrical fatigue limit. Fracture surface morphologies were observed using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and electron probe micro-analysis to clarify the fatigue fracture mechanism and to examine the influence of the architecture of the CC tapes on fatigue behaviors. Damage along the edges, caused by slitting during fabrication of the 4 mm wide CC tapes, generated a stress concentration, eventually resulting in earlier crack initiation not only on the substrate, reducing mechanical fatigue strength, but also on the superconducting layer, degrading the measured critical current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]