Performance Test of Superconducting Wires Subject to Heavy Deformations

• Published in: IEEE transactions on applied superconductivity Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 1 - 4
• Main Authors: Freda, R., Chiarelli, S., Corato, V., della Corte, A., De Marzi, G., Di Zenobio, A., Formichetti, A., Muzzi, L., Rufoloni, A., Viola, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.06.2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: AC losses; Acceptance tests; Cable-in-Conduit Conductor; Cables; Conductors; Critical Current; Critical current density (superconductivity); Deformation; Destructive testing; Laboratories; Magnetic field measurement; Nb3Sn; NbTi; Niobium-tin; Nuclear fusion; Superconducting cables; Superconducting filaments and wires; Superconducting magnets; Superconductivity; Wire; Wires; superconducting filaments and wires; hbox{Nb}_{3}\hbox{Sn}; AC losses; NbTi; critical current; cable-in-conduit conductor
• DOI: 10.1109/TASC.2014.2364402
• ISSN: 1051-8223

ENEA is currently involved in the manufacture of cable-in-conduit conductors (CICCs) for the magnets of the nuclear fusion facilities ITER and JT-60SA, as well as for laboratory superconducting magnets based on CICCs, as those of the NAFASSY and of the Nijmegen-High Field Magnetic Laboratory facilities. The acceptance tests of such industrial productions include the destructive examination of both cable and conductor samples. As widely experienced, during the manufacturing processes, deformations of both copper and superconducting wires may occur due to the large compaction forces involved to which the cabled structure is subjected. In order to evaluate the maximum extent to which typical deformations can be accepted at the level of the single wire within a cable, the characterization of wires artificially deformed has been carried out in terms of mechanical, structural, and electromagnetic properties. In addition, some relevant wire sections extracted from the destructive examination samples have been also characterized. Experimental results demonstrate the negligible influence on the overall conductor performances to be expected for the typical deformations that occur during cable and conductor manufacture.