Critical current degradation in an epoxy-impregnated rare-earth Ba_(2)Cu_(3)O_(7-x)coated conductor caused by damage during a quench

High-temperature superconducting(HTS)rare-earth Ba_(2)Cu_(3)O_(7-x)(REBCO)coated conductors(CCs)have significant potential in high-current and high-field applications.However,owing to the weak interface strength of the laminated composite REBCO CCs,the damage induced by the thermal mismatch stress under a combination of epoxy impregnation,cooling,and quenching can cause premature degradation of the critical current.In this study,a three-dimensional(3D)electromagnetic-thermal-mechanical model based on the H-formulation and cohesive zone model(CZM)is developed to study the critical current degradation characteristics in an epoxy-impregnated REBCO CC caused by the damage during a quench.The temperature variation,critical current degradation of the REBCO CC,and its degradation onset temperature calculated by the numerical model are in agreement with the experimental data taken from the literature.The delamination of the REBCO CC predicted by the numerical model is consistent with the experimental result.The numerical results also indicate that the shear stress is the main contributor to the damage propagation inside the REBCO CC.The premature degradation of the critical current during a quench is closely related to the interface shear strength inside the REBCO CC.Finally,the effects of the coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE)of the epoxy resin,thickness of the substrate,and substrate material on the critical current degradation characteristics of the epoxy-impregnated REBCO CC during a quench are also discussed.These results help us understand the relationship between the current-carrying degradation and damage in the HTS applications.

Wavelet Multi-Resolution Interpolation Galerkin Method for Linear Singularly Perturbed Boundary Value Problems

In this study,a wavelet multi-resolution interpolation Galerkin method(WMIGM)is proposed to solve linear singularly perturbed boundary value problems.Unlike conventional wavelet schemes,the proposed algorithm can be readily extended to special node generation techniques,such as the Shishkin node.Such a wavelet method allows a high degree of local refinement of the nodal distribution to efficiently capture localized steep gradients.All the shape functions possess the Kronecker delta property,making the imposition of boundary conditions as easy as that in the finite element method.Four numerical examples are studied to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposedwavelet method.The results showthat the use ofmodified Shishkin nodes can significantly reduce numerical oscillation near the boundary layer.Compared with many other methods,the proposed method possesses satisfactory accuracy and efficiency.The theoretical and numerical results demonstrate that the order of theε-uniform convergence of this wavelet method can reach 5.

Multiresolution method for bending of plates with complex shapes

A high-accuracy multiresolution method is proposed to solve mechanics problems subject to complex shapes or irregular domains.To realize this method,we design a new wavelet basis function,by which we construct a fifth-order numerical scheme for the approximation of multi-dimensional functions and their multiple integrals defined in complex domains.In the solution of differential equations,various derivatives of the unknown function are denoted as new functions.Then,the integral relations between these functions are applied in terms of wavelet approximation of multiple integrals.Therefore,the original equation with derivatives of various orders can be converted to a system of algebraic equations with discrete nodal values of the highest-order derivative.During the application of the proposed method,boundary conditions can be automatically included in the integration operations,and relevant matrices can be assured to exhibit perfect sparse patterns.As examples,we consider several second-order mathematics problems defined on regular and irregular domains and the fourth-order bending problems of plates with various shapes.By comparing the solutions obtained by the proposed method with the exact solutions,the new multiresolution method is found to have a convergence rate of fifth order.The solution accuracy of this method with only a few hundreds of nodes can be much higher than that of the finite element method(FEM)with tens of thousands of elements.In addition,because the accuracy order for direct approximation of a function using the proposed basis function is also fifth order,we may conclude that the accuracy of the proposed method is almost independent of the equation order and domain complexity.

SINGULAR BEHAVIORS OF INTERFACIAL CRACKS IN 2D MAGNETOELECTROELASTIC BIMATERIALS

The singular characteristics of stress, electric displacement and magnetic induction fields near the tip of impermeable interracial cracks in two-dimensional magnetoelectroelastic bimaterials are studied using the generalized Stroh formalism. Two types of singularities are obtained： one is the oscillating singularity 1/2±iε, the other is the non-oscillating singularity 1/2±κ. It is found that the non-zero parameters ε and κ cannot coexist for one transversely isotropic MEE bimaterial, a similar result is obtained for transversely isotropic piezoelectric bimaterials.

Electric-magnetic-force characteristics of rare earth barium copper oxide superconductor high-field coils based on screening effect and strain sensitivity

Rare earth barium copper oxide(REBCO)is the most researched and commercialized second-generation high-temperature superconducting material.Due to the anisotropic structure,strong deformation sensitivity,and central field errors caused by screening current effects,it is still a challenge for commercialization applications.In this study,the transversely isotropic constitutive relationship is selected as the mechanical model based on the structural characteristics of REBCO tapes,and suitable microelements are selected to equate the elastic constants using their average stress-strain relationships.Then,a two-dimensional axisymmetric model for coils wound by single-layer tapes is constructed to analyze the dependence of the electric-magnetic-force distribution in the tape on the strain.Finally,the anisotropic approximation of the homogenized bulk method is used to equate large-turn high-field coils,and the electric-magnetic-force distribution characteristics of the coils with/without screening effects and mechanical strain conditions are investigated,respectively.The results reveal that the mechanical strain has a weakening effect on the electromagnetic field distribution of superconducting tapes,but causes a significant enhancement in the force field distribution.In the presence of 0.5% mechanical strain,the maximum weakening of the peak value of the current density and the critical current density inside the high-field coil can reach about 8% and 13%,respectively,with a nearly 5 times increase in the peak stress.The screening current makes the current field distribution inside the coil improve by about 10 times.The screening current induced magnetic field can reach up to 0.8 T,making the relative error of the high-field coil center up to 7.8%.

A high-order accurate wavelet method for solving Schrdinger equations with general nonlinearity

A sampling approximation for a function defined on a bounded interval is proposed by combining the Coiflet-type wavelet expansion and the boundary extension technique. Based on such a wavelet approximation scheme, a Galerkin procedure is developed for the spatial discretization of the generalized nonlinear Schr6dinger （NLS） equa- tions, and a system of ordinary differential equations for the time dependent unknowns is obtained. Then, the classical fourth-order explicit Runge-Kutta method is used to solve this semi-discretization system. To justify the present method, several widely considered problems are solved as the test examples, and the results demonstrate that the proposed wavelet algorithm has much better accuracy and a faster convergence rate in space than many existing numerical methods.

Delamination strength of HTS tape under transverse tensile stress and its enhancement by using different Ag layer depositing temperatures

For the application of second generation high temperature superconducting coated conductors (CCs) with layered structures, thermal mismatch between different components and electromagnetic force exerted in superconducting layer in a working magnet can cause transverse tensile stress, which would result in delamination behavior. Therefore many research groups have designed experiments to measure the delamination strength and dedicate to improving that. However, the reason of the discrete distribution of measured data has still not get quantitatively studied, besides, there are lack of investigations on the method of changing depositing conditions to improve the delamination strength except by adding an additional metal layer. In this work, we adopt an anvil test device and obtain delamination strengths as 29.6 MPa of YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO)/buffer and 114.6 MPa of buffer/substrate by combing energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) detection. The reason of discretized measurement data on the delamination strength is explained. Moreover, we find that different temperatures during Ag deposition determine the bonding force of Ag and YBCO layer. The Delamination strength between Ag and YBCO layer increases from 4.4 MPa to larger than 114.6 MPa with temperature elevated from 30℃ to 100℃. Hence we present a novel method for improving the delamination strength of YBCO CCs by setting an optimal temperature of Ag deposition.

Modeling of softsphere normal collisions with characteristic of coefficient of restitution dependent on impact velocity

This letter presents a theoretical model of the normal （head-on） collisions between two soft spheres for predicting the experimental characteristic of the coefficient of restitution dependent on impact velocity. After the contact force law between the contacted spheres during a collision is phenomenologically formulated in terms of the compression or overlap displacement under considera- tion of an elastic-plastic loading and a plastic unloading subprocesses, the coefficient of restitution is gained by the dynamic equation of the contact process once an initial impact velocity is input. It is found that the theoretical predictions of the coefficient of restitution varying with the impact velocity are well in agreement with the existing experimental characteristics which are fitted by the explicit formula.

Quench characteristics and mechanical responses during quench propagation in rare earth barium copper oxide pancake coils

Quench and mechanical behaviors are critical issues in high temperature superconducting(HTS)coils.In this paper,the quench characteristics in the rare earth barium copper oxide(REBCO)pancake coil at 4.2K are analyzed,and a two-dimensional(2D)axisymmetric electro-magneto-thermal model is presented.The effects of the constituent materials,background field,and coil size are analyzed.An elastoplastic mechanical model is used to study the corresponding mechanical responses during the quench propagation.The variations of the temperature and strain in superconducting layers are compared.The results indicate that the radial strain evolutions can reflect the transverse quench propagation and the tensile hoop and radial stresses in superconducting layers increase with the quench propagation.The possible damages are discussed with the consideration of the effects of the background field and coil size.It is concluded that the high background field significantly increases the maximum tensile hoop and radial stresses in quenching coils and local damage may be caused.

Coiflet solution of strongly nonlinear p-Laplacian equations

A new boundary extension technique based on the Lagrange interpolat- ing polynomial is proposed and used to solve the function approximation defined on an interval by a series of scaling Coiflet functions, where the coefficients are used as the single-point samplings. The obtained approximation formula can exactly represent any polynomials defined on the interval with the order up to one third of the length of the compact support of the adopted Coiflet function. Based on the Galerkin method, a Coifiet-based solution procedure is established for general two-dimensional p^Laplacian equations, following which the equations can be discretized into a concise matrix form. As examples of applications, the proposed modified wavelet Galerkin method is applied to three typical p-Laplacian equations with strong nonlinearity. The numerical results justify the efficiency and accuracy of the method.

Vortex pinning and rectification effect in a nanostructured superconducting film with a square array of antidot triplets

We study the stability of vortices pinning and dynamics in a superconducting thin strip containing a square array of antidot triplets by using the nonlinear Ginzburg–Landau(GL)theory.Compared with the regular square array of circular holes,the vortices are no longer pinned inside the circular holes,but instead stabilized at the center of the antidot triplets depending on the geometry parameters.Moreover,the influences of the geometry parameters and the polarity of the applied current on the current–voltage(I–V)characteristics are also studied.The critical current for the sample turning into a normal state becomes smaller when the hole diameter D is smaller and the spacing B between the holes is larger.Due to the asymmetric pinning sites,our numerical simulations demonstrate that the positive and negative rectified voltages appear alternately in the resistive state of the sample under an ac current of square pulses.

Degradation of critical current in Bi2212 composite wire under compression load

Since Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8＋x（Bi2212） wires are subject to mechanical loadings, degradation of critical current will occur. The effect of compressive loadings on the critical current of Bi2212 wire is studied by considering micro-buckling of filament. A Bi2212 wire is regarded as a unidirectional filament-reinforced composite in the theoretical analysis. By considering the influence of inclusion, the micro-buckling wavelength can be derived by using a two-dimensional model. Based on the experimental results, the critical current is fitted as a function of buckling wavelength. It is found that the decrease of the critical current is directly proportional to the reciprocal of square of the buckling wavelength. Change of micro-buckling wavelength with material parameters is discussed. A critical strain in the wire with a filament bridge is analyzed using the finite element method.

Wavelet method applied to specific adhesion of elastic solids via molecular bonds

We propose a wavelet method to analyze the stochastic-elastic problem of specific adhesion between two elastic solids via ligand-receptor bond clusters, which is governed by a nonlinear integro-differential equation with a sin- gular Cauchy kernel to describe the mean-field coupling between deformation of elastic materials and stochastic behavior of the molecular bonds. To solve this problem, Galerkin method based on a wavelet approximation scheme is adopted, and special treatment which transforms the singular Cauchy kernel into a smooth one has been proposed to avoid the cumbersome calculation of singular integrals. Numerical results demonstrate that the method is fully capable of solving the specific adhesion problems with complex nonlinear and singular equations. Based on the proposed method, investigations are performed to reveal the relation between steady-state pulling force and mean surface separation under different stress concentration indexes, which is crucial for assembling the overall constitutive relations for multicellular tumor spheroids and polymer-matrix microcomposites.

A simultaneous space-time wavelet method for nonlinear initial boundary value problems

A high-precision and space-time fully decoupled numerical method is developed for a class of nonlinear initial boundary value problems. It is established based on a proposed Coiflet-based approximation scheme with an adjustable high order for the functions over a bounded interval, which allows the expansion coefficients to be explicitly expressed by the function values at a series of single points. When the solution method is used, the nonlinear initial boundary value problems are first spatially discretized into a series of nonlinear initial value problems by combining the proposed wavelet approximation and the conventional Galerkin method, and a novel high-order step-by-step time integrating approach is then developed for the resulting nonlinear initial value problems with the same function approximation scheme based on the wavelet theory. The solution method is shown to have the N th-order accuracy, as long as the Coiflet with [0, 3 N-1]compact support is adopted, where N can be any positive even number. Typical examples in mechanics are considered to justify the accuracy and efficiency of the method.

Aeroelastic dynamics stability of rotating sandwich annular plate with viscoelastic core layer

A dynamic model for a rotating sandwich annular plate with a viscoelastic core layer is developed. All fundamental equations and boundary conditions are estab- lished based on Hamilton＇s principle, and the rotation effect and viscoelastic properties of the sandwich structure are taken into account. The aerodynaxnics force acting on the plate is described by a rotating damping model, and the constitutive behavior of the viscoelastic core layer is formulated by the frequency-dependent complex modulus. The effects of geometrical and material parameters on frequencies and damping of forward and backward traveling waves and the dynamic stability for the rotating sandwich plate axe numerically analyzed by means of Galerkin＇s method. The results show that the critical and flutter speeds of the rotating plate can he increased at some certain parameters of the viscoelastic core layer.

Contact force and mechanical loss of multistage cable under tension and bending

A theoretical model for calculating the stress and strain states of cabling structures with different loadings has been developed in this paper. We solve the problem for the first- and second-stage cable with tensile or bending strain. The contact and friction forces between the strands are presented by two-dimensional contact model. Several theoretical models have been proposed to verify the results when the triplet subjected to the tensile strain, including contact force, contact stresses, and mechanical loss. It is found that loadings will affect the friction force and the mechanical loss of the triplet. The results show that the contact force and mechanical loss are dependent on the twist pitch. A shorter twist pitch can lead to higher contact force, while the trend of mechanical loss with twist pitch is complicated. The mechanical loss may be reduced by adjusting the twist pitch reasonably. The present model provides a simple analysis method to investigate the mechanical behaviors in multistage-structures under different loads.

Effects of interfacial discontinuity on the fracture behavior in the superconductor-substrate system

This study concerns a two-dimensional model and the corresponding virtual crack closure technique(VCCT) implemented to solve the general boundary value problems that may explain why interface discontinuity has effects on the fracture behavior in the superconductor-substrate system. The interfacial discontinuity can be classified according to the material properties' continuity and their derivatives' continuity at the interface. For nonhomogeneous superconductor and substrate specimens with various material properties, a VCCT method is developed to calculate their fracture behavior. Furthermore, the effects of applied magnetic field amplitude and nonhomogeneous parameters are extensively and parametrically studied in two activation processes(zero-field cooling and field cooling). The integrative and computational study presented here provide a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the fracture mechanism in the superconductor-substrate system and sheds light on the rational design of interfacial continuity.

Wavelet multiresolution interpolation Galerkin method for nonlinear boundary value problems with localized steep gradients

The wavelet multiresolution interpolation for continuous functions defined on a finite interval is developed in this study by using a simple alternative of transformation matrix.The wavelet multiresolution interpolation Galerkin method that applies this interpolation to represent the unknown function and nonlinear terms independently is proposed to solve the boundary value problems with the mixed Dirichlet-Robin boundary conditions and various nonlinearities,including transcendental ones,in which the discretization process is as simple as that in solving linear problems,and only common two-term connection coefficients are needed.All matrices are independent of unknown node values and lead to high efficiency in the calculation of the residual and Jacobian matrices needed in Newton’s method,which does not require numerical integration in the resulting nonlinear discrete system.The validity of the proposed method is examined through several nonlinear problems with interior or boundary layers.The results demonstrate that the proposed wavelet method shows excellent accuracy and stability against nonuniform grids,and high resolution of localized steep gradients can be achieved by using local refined multiresolution grids.In addition,Newton’s method converges rapidly in solving the nonlinear discrete system created by the proposed wavelet method,including the initial guess far from real solutions.

Two-step homogenization for the effective thermal conductivities of twisted multi-filamentary superconducting strand

For the accurate prediction of the effective thermal conductivities of the twisted multi-filamentary superconducting strand,a two-step homogenization method is adopted.Based on the distribution of filaments,the superconducting strand can be decomposed into a set of concentric cylinder layers.Each layer is a two-phase composite composed of the twisted filaments and copper matrix.In the first step of homogenization,the representative volume element(RVE)based finite element(FE)homogenization method with the periodic boundary condition(PBC)is adopted to evaluate the effective thermal conductivities of each layer.In the second step of homogenization,the generalized self-consistent method is used to obtain the effective thermal conductivities of all the concentric cylinder layers.The accuracy of the developed model is validated by comparing with the local and full-field FE simulation.Finally,the effects of the twist pitch on the effective thermal conductivities of twisted multi-filamentary superconducting strand are studied.

Mechanics of DNA packaging and ejection from elastic phage capsid

This study intends to investigate how the elasticity of a bacterial phage can affect the process of DNA packaging and ejection. For this purpose, we propose a unified continuum and statistical mechanics model by taking into account the effects of DNA bending deformation, electrostatic repulsion between DNA-DNA strands and elastic deformation of the phage capsid. Based on such a model, we derive the quantitative relations between packaging force, elasticity of capsid, DNA length remaining in the capsid, osmotic pressure and ejection time. The theoretically predicted results are found to agree very well with in vitro experimental observations in the lit-erature.