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.

Interface properties and failures of REBCO coated conductor tapes:Research progress and challenges

RE‐Ba‐Cu‐O(REBCO,where RE=Y,Gd,Sm,and other rare earth elements)coated conductor(CC)tapes are promising for applications in high‐energy physics and high‐field science owing to their significant advantages such as high critical magnetic field,high current density,and the ability to achieve superconductivity at liquid nitrogen temperatures.Nevertheless,the mechanical and superconducting performances of these CC tapes are significantly affected by interface failures,such as interfacial delamination and coating fractures,which arise from the complex interplay of mechanical stress induced by magnet processing,thermal mismatch stress during cooling,electromagnetic stress under high magnetic fields,and thermal stress during quenching.This study comprehensively reviews the interface properties and failure behavior of REBCO CC tapes.First,the research progress in characterizing the intricate interface properties of REBCO CC is systematically reviewed.Furthermore,the interface failure behavior in extreme multifield environments was analyzed and summarized.Subsequently,this study outlines optimization strategies to mitigate interface failure risks in REBCO superconducting magnet structures.Finally,we address the current challenges and future perspectives on interface issues in REBCO CC tapes.By addressing these challenges,this study offers valuable insights for advancing the development and practical implementation of superconducting technologies in diverse applications.

Screening-current-induced magnetic fields and strains in a compact REBCO coil in self field and background field

REBa_(2)Cu_(3)O_(7−x)(REBCO)coated conductors,owing to its high tensile strength and current‐carrying ability in a background field,are widely regarded a promising candidate in high‐field applications.Despite the great potentials,recent studies have highlighted the challenges posed by screening currents,which are featured by a highly nonuniform current distribution in the superconducting layer.In this paper,we report a comprehensive study on the behaviors of screening currents in a compact REBCO coil,specifically the screeningcurrent‐induced magnetic fields and strains.Experiments were carried out in the self‐generated magnetic field and a background field,respectively.In the self‐field condition,the full hysteresis of the magnetic field was obtained by applying current sweeps with repeatedly reversed polarity,as the nominal center field reached 9.17 T with a maximum peak current of 350 A.In a background field of 23.15 T,the insert coil generated a center field of 4.17 T with an applied current of 170 A.Ultimately,a total center field of 32.58 T was achieved before quench.Both the sequential model and the coupled model considering the perpendicular field modification due to conductor deformation are applied.The comparative study shows that,for this coil,the electromagnetic–mechanical coupling plays a trivial role in self‐field conditions up to 9 T.In contrast,with a high axial field dominated by the background field,the coupling effect has a stronger influence on the predicted current and strain distributions.Further discussions regarding the role of background field on the strains in the insert suggest potential design strategies to maximize the total center field.

Onset temperature of intrinsic pinning in a REBCO coated conductor from critical current anisotropy

The field‐angle dependence of the critical current in a REBa_(2)Cu_(3)O_(7) coated conductor has been measured over a fine range of temperatures from 15 K to 80 K.The particular sample is demonstrated to have a very low fraction of extrinsic planar defects by its near‐isotropic critical current at 77 K.At a representative magnetic field of 3 T we are able to track the emergence of the ab‐plane peak usually associated with intrinsic pinning and quantify its evolution with temperature by fitting to a maximum‐entropy function.We are also able to observe the evolution of dip and peak features in the angle dependence of the power‐law index n with decreasing temperature and show that a dip appearing at 65 K is supplanted by a sharper positive peak from 50 K.The combination of critical current and power‐law index temperature dependences shows the onset of intrinsic pinning at 50 K.

Numerical simulation on AC loss in REBCO tapes carrying non-sinusoidal currents

AC loss is one of the greatest obstacles for high‐temperature superconducting(HTS)applications.In some HTS applications,coated conductors carry non‐sinusoidal currents.Thus,it is important to investigate the effect of various waveforms on AC loss in coated conductors.In this work,transport AC loss in a 4 mm‐wide REBCO coated conductor carrying sinusoidal and non‐sinusoidal currents,is numerically investigated.The current amplitudes,the frequency of the transport current,and n‐value are varied.Non‐sinusoidal transport current waveforms studied include square,five types of trapezoidal,and triangular waveforms.Simulated results show that,for a given current amplitude,AC loss for the square current waveform is the greatest,that for the triangular waveform is the smallest.The sequence of AC loss in the conductor for different current waveforms coincides with the penetration depth,which implies the penetration depth determines the AC loss of the coated conductor.Furthermore,the transport AC loss in the conductor was found to decrease with frequency as f2=n for non‐sinusoidal transport current.

Electromagnetic-thermal-structure multi-layer nonlinear elastoplastic modelling study on epoxy-impregnated REBCO pancake coils in high-field magnets

The elastoplastic mechanical behaviour of an epoxy-impregnated REBCO pancake winding under cryogenics and high magnetic field is investigated in the frame of finite element(FE)modelling.A two-dimensional axisymmetric electromagnetic-thermal-structure multi-physics multi-layer FE model with main layers of the coated conductor and insulation materials is developed.The radial stress and hoop stress on each constituent layer induced by thermal mismatch stress during cooling are investigated.The mechanical behaviour of each constituent material is also analysed by considering the thermal mismatch stress and electromagnetic force under 20 T background field.The results show that discrete stresses appear in all the constituent materials indicating that the multi-layer winding model containing the main constituent materials is necessary for the accurate stress analysis in an epoxy-impregnated REBCO winding.The stress of each constituent material induced by thermal mismatch during cooling process are too high to be ignored in the subsequent electromagnetic structure analysis.The mechanical-magnetic coupling analyses show that the stresses of all the constituent materials increase with the transport current.The plastic failure mainly induced by hoop stress successively occurs on copper stabilizer and Hastelloy substrate of the innermost turn,and the plastic region propagates from the inner turns to the outer turns with the increase of transport current.The failure of the superconducting layer occurs before the yield in Hastelloy due to the direct action of Lorentz force on the superconducting layers.The transverse tensile stress increases with the increasing transport current,indicating that the risk of transverse delamination failure increases with the increase of transport current.The mechanical failure modes including delamination within the conductor,plastic deformation in substrate and crack in superconducting layer should be seriously considered.

Time-dependent development of dynamic resistance voltage of superconducting tape considering heat accumulation

In flux pumps,motors and superconducting magnets,the high temperature superconductor(HTS)coated conductor frequently carries a DC transport current when an oscillating magnetic field is present in the background.Under this circumstance,the interesting effect of dynamic resistance takes place,which can affect the operating performance of superconducting devices:heat accumulation can contribute to the rising temperature of the HTS tape and the dynamic resistance voltage can change accordingly.This article explores the time‐dependent development of the dynamic resistance voltage using a numerical modeling considering the thermal effects.After a validation against experimental results,this work investigates the effects of several factors on the structure of the HTS tape on the time‐dependent development of the dynamic resistance,thus providing insights toward a better understanding of the time‐dependent behavior of HTS tapes under external magnetic fields.