Temperature- and field-dependent characterization of a conductor on round core cable. (24th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barth, C; Laan, D C van der; Bagrets, N; Bayer, C M; Weiss, K-P; Lange, C
• Is Part Of: Superconductor science & technology. Volume 28:Number 6(2015:Jun.)
• Publication Date: 2015-04-24
• Subjects: high temperature superconductors -- HTS -- REBCO -- conductor on round core -- magnetic field dependence -- temperature dependence -- high current ramp rates; Superconductivity -- Periodicals; Superconductors -- Periodicals; 537.623
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-2048/28/6/065007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-2048

Abstract

Abstract: The conductor on round core (CORC) cable is one of the major high temperature superconductor cable concepts combining scalability, flexibility, mechanical strength, ease of fabrication and high current density; making it a possible candidate as conductor for large, high field magnets. To simulate the boundary conditions of such magnets as well as the temperature dependence of CORC cables a 1.16 m long sample consisting of 15, 4 mm wide SuperPower RE BCO tapes was characterized using the 'FBI' (force—field—current) superconductor test facility of the Institute for Technical Physics of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In a five step investigation, the CORC cable's performance was determined at different transverse mechanical loads, magnetic background fields and temperatures as well as its response to swift current changes. In the first step, the sample's 77 K, self-field current was measured in a liquid nitrogen bath. In the second step, the temperature dependence was measured at self-field condition and compared with extrapolated single tape data. In the third step, the magnetic background field was repeatedly cycled while measuring the current carrying capabilities to determine the impact of transverse Lorentz forces on the CORC cable sample's performance. In the fourth step, the sample's current carrying capabilities were measured at different background fields (2–12 T) and surface temperatures (4.2–51.5 K). Through finite element method simulations, the surface temperatures are converted into average sample temperatures and the gained field- and temperature dependence is compared with extrapolated single tape data. In the fifth step, the response of the CORC cable sample to rapid current changes (8.3 kA s −1 ) was observed with a fast data acquisition system. During these tests, the sample performance remains constant, no degradation is observed. The sample's measured current carrying capabilities correlate to those of single tapes assuming field- and temperature dependence as published by the manufacturer.