Calculating transport AC losses in stacks of high temperature superconductor coated conductors with magnetic substrates using FEM

In this paper, the authors investigate the electromagnetic properties of stacks of high temperature superconductor (HTS) coated conductors with a particular focus on calculating the total transport AC loss. The cross-section of superconducting cables and coils is often modeled as a two-dimensional stack of coated conductors, and these stacks can be used to estimate the AC loss of a practical device. This paper uses a symmetric two dimensional (2D) finite element model based on the H formulation, and a detailed investigation into the effects of a magnetic substrate on the transport AC loss of a stack is presented. The number of coated conductors in each stack is varied from 1 to 150, and three types of substrate are compared: non-magnetic weakly magnetic and strongly magnetic. The non-magnetic substrate model is comparable with results from existing models for the limiting cases of a single tape (Norris) and an infinite stack (Clem). The presence of a magnetic substrate increases the total AC loss of the stack, due to an increased localized magnetic flux density, and the stronger the magnetic material, the further the flux penetrates into the stack overall. The AC loss is calculated for certain tapes within the stack, and the differences and similarities between the losses throughout the stack are explained using the magnetic flux penetration and current density distributions in those tapes. The ferromagnetic loss of the substrate itself is found to be negligible in most cases, except for small magnitudes of current. Applying these findings to practical applications, where AC transport current is involved, superconducting coils should be wound where possible using coated conductors with a non-magnetic substrate to reduce the total AC loss in the coil.     

MgB2超导圆线基底交流损耗的计算分析

二硼化镁(MgB2)超导体在非铜氧化物陶瓷超导体中具有最高临界转变温度,给超导应用带来了新的契机.铁与镁不反应,且价格低廉,在需要热处理的超导成材工艺中,常常采用铁作MgB2的基底;然而,这种高磁导率的材料有可能增大基底的损耗.本文采用有限元分析软件ANSYS计算了工频下不同材料基底超导圆线传输交流的基底损耗,分析了基底损耗与电流大小、基底厚度之间的关系,对双层基底的损耗也进行了研究.本文的结果对于适当选取截面尺寸、基底材料和工作电流以期减小交流损耗,具有一定参考意义.     

复合结构丝中的电流密度分布和巨磁阻抗效应

提出了由中间为高电导率的非铁磁性金属丝外面包裹一层铁磁材料组成的复合结构丝的电流 密度分布和巨磁阻抗(GMI)效应模型，并对Cu/FeCoNi复合丝进行了数值模拟. 结果表明：在 相同的磁性材料几何尺寸和磁特性时，Cu/FeCoNi复合丝铁磁层内的电流随频率的升高比匀 质FeCoNi铁磁丝内的电流更趋于表面分布，而且开始出现趋肤效应时对应的频率明显降低. 当在比较低的频率下就可以观察到明显的MI变化时，复合结构丝中的电阻和电抗变化主要是 由趋肤效应引起，趋肤效应仍然是引起复合结构材料(包括多层薄膜结构) 关键词： 电流密度 巨磁阻抗效应 趋肤效应     

Experiment of enhancing critical current and reducing ac loss in pancake coil comprised of Ni-coated Bi-2223/Ag tape

An approach of realizing high performance HTS coil comprised of ferromagnetic material-coated BSCCO tape is proposed. The concept of influencing critical current and ac loss is based on the magnetic shielding effect resulting in redirection of self-field flux-lines. In the previous article, ac performance of Ni-coated tape was demonstrated where the Ni-coating was introduced at the edge-regime of the finished tape in order to redirect the perpendicular component of self-field lines. In order to investigate the shielding effect on ac performance in HTS coil, a two-turn pancake coil comprised of Ni-coated Bi-2223/Ag tape is demonstrated in the present article. About 6.4% of critical current was enhanced and 30% of transport current ac loss was reduced by means of 40 μm thick and 0.3 mm long (from the edge toward center of the tape) Ni-coating. This result suggests that additional ferromagnetic loss could be compensated well by the shielding effect of the partial Ni-coating. The degree of enhancement in critical current as well as ferromagnetic impact on ac losses depend on the volume and geometry of ferromagnetic coating introduced. Therefore, it is very important to control the parameter of ferromagnetic coating of the tape in order to balance the critical current and ac loss for optimum coil performance.     

Electric current distribution in a superconducting film with ferromagnetic coatings

This paper reports on a calculation of the spatial electric-current distribution in a superconducting film coated with a ferromagnetic material with one-dimensional surface roughness. It is shown that using coatings with a high magnetic susceptibility permits one to create substantial current nonuniformities in the superconducting-film plane and an anisotropic dependence of the current distribution on its direction relative to that of the nonuniformity.     

Effect of sheath materials on the microstructure and superconducting properties of SmO0.7F0.3FeAs wires

Fe/Ti, Nb, and Ta sheathed SmO_0.7F_0.3FeAs wires were manufactured using the powder-in-tube method. A comparative study was made of the effect of sheath material on the microstructure and superconducting properties of the SmO_0.7F_0.3FeAs wires. Among these sheath materials, the penetration depth of Ta into the superconducting core is the largest. There was nearly no difference in the critical transition temperature of the SmO_0.7F_0.3FeAs wires sheathed with different materials, and the upper critical fields were approximately the same. On the other hand, it was found that Nb-sheathed wires had a higher superconducting current density than the others. Impurities existing in the superconducting core were thought to be one of the most important factors that affected the critical current density of the SmO_0.7F_0.3FeAs wires.     

Magnetic measurement of transport AC losses in Bi-2223/Ag tapes

Magnetic nature of the losses in superconducting wire carrying AC current implies that it should be possible to determine these losses in a contactless way. Ribbon-like samples are quite favorable for such an experiment, because a notable portion of magnetic flux related to losses ‘escapes' the sample volume and can be detected by an appropriate pick-up coil. In this case, a model describing the AC current penetration into the tape, based, e.g., on the critical state model, allows one to derive the losses from the pick-up coil signal. Because this signal is proportional to the number of coil turns, extension of the accessible range of measured voltages (and losses) can be achieved. We demonstrate the data obtained on a 1 cm long portion of a low-loss multifilamentary tape carrying AC current with frequency 35 Hz. The pick-up coil technique allowed us to reach loss level more than one order below the experimental limit for direct measurements.     

Twist effect on hysteresis loss in Bi2223 multifilamentary wires exposed to an AC magnetic field

We fabricated Bi2223 multifilamentary sample wires with various twist pitches and investigated the electromagnetic properties experimentally. They showed monofilamentlike electromagnetic properties regardless of twisting due to the contacts among filaments and/or proximity effect. The observed AC losses in the non-twisted sample wire agreed roughly with the theoretical prediction for a homogeneous superconducting slab with the same thickness of the filamentary region on the basis of Irie–Yamafuji model. However the AC losses in the twisted wires deviated from the theoretical ones, especially for the amplitude around the theoretically predicted penetration field of the slab. We showed that the observed AC loss properties can be explained by both the twist effect for the macroscopic shielding current and the contribution of the local shielding current.     

Theory of fluctuations in a network of parallel superconducting wires

We show how the partition function of a network of parallel superconducting wires weakly coupled together by the proximity effect, subjected to a vector potential along the wires, can be mapped onto N-distinguishable two dimensional quantum-mechanics problem with a perpendicular imaginary magnetic field. Then, we show, using a mean field approximation, that, for a given coupling, there is a critical temperature for onset of inter-wire phase coherence. The transition temperature T_c is plotted on both cases for non-magnetic and a magnetic field perpendicular to the wires.     

Comparative study on the critical current performance of Bi-2223/Ag and YBCO wires in low magnetic fields at liquid nitrogen temperature

A comparative study on the critical current performance of Bi-2223/Ag and YBCO coated conductor wires in low magnetic fields at liquid nitrogen temperature was carried out in this work. Five commercial high temperature superconductor wires from different manufacturers were collected. Their critical currents were measured in magnetic fields, ranging from 0 to 0.4 T. On contrary to the common conception, the Bi-2223/Ag samples had better performance than YBCO coated conductor samples in the magnetic fields parallel to the wide surface of superconducting wires within the experimental scope. We also found similar results by collecting the concerned datum from the published literatures to confirm our measurement results. At the present stage, this fact made that the Bi-2223/Ag wires might be the preferred choice for the applications with mainly low parallel fields involved, unless other considerations were prioritized.     

Long-term stability of Bi(2223) and Dy(123) superconducting tapes in the direct current circuit

The stability of critical parameters T _c and I _c of commercial high-temperature superconducting wires upon long-term passage of transport current (about 0.7I _c) in liquid nitrogen (77 K) is studied. Voltage-current characteristics U(I), as well as the critical current and critical temperature, are investigated for the case of Bi(2223) hermetic multifilament wires and Dy(123) superconducting tapes covered by a thin Ag layer. In the former case, a considerable decrease in the critical current (by ～30%) and swelling of the wires after passage of the current for 323 h are observed. The same is true for a reference sample, which does not experience the action of current and stays in liquid nitrogen for 700 h. The decrease in the critical current in the Bi(2223) sample is likely to be associated with penetration of a liquid coolant into the composite conductor: evaporating and expanding as a result of heating, it severely deforms the material. The Dy(123) sample grown epitaxially demonstrates high stability of the critical current after it has experienced the action of current for 400 h and been kept in liquid nitrogen for 1000 h.     

Bi2223带材的临界电流及交流损耗研究

测量了77K温度下不同基体材料和不同芯数带材的临界电流和交流损耗.分析了弯曲应变对它们的影响.结果表明单芯样品的不可逆应变小于0.15%,而多芯样品的不可逆应变在01%到03%之间,多芯导体的机械性能比单芯导体的好,增加芯数可以提高机械性能,金属包套材料对超导芯起到了增强的作用,它防止了超导芯中裂纹的进一步传播.自场损耗随外加应变的增加而增加,这种大幅度的增加与应变使带材的临界电流急剧减小直接相关 关键词： 高温超导体 临界电流 交流损耗     

Superconducting phase coherent electron transport in proximity conical ferromagnets

We report superconducting phase-periodic conductance oscillations in ferromagnetic wires with interfaces to conventional superconductors. The ferromagnetic wires were made of Ho, a conical ferromagnet. The distance between the interfaces was much larger than the singlet superconducting penetration depth. We explain the observed oscillations as due to the long-range penetration of an unusual helical triplet component of the order parameter that is generated at the superconductor/ferromagnet interfaces and maintained by the intrinsic rotating magnetization of Ho.     

Magnetic properties of electroplated wires coated by ferrofluid

Low-frequency magnetic properties of ferromagnetic composite wires were studied with and without coating by ferrofluid. Non-magnetic CuBe wires of 0.1 mm diameter were electroplated with FeCoNi layer of 1 μm thickness. Magnetization curves were measured in the frequency range of 10 Hz–3 kHz. The composite CuBe/FeCoNi/ferrofluid material shows a hysteretic behaviour in a small field. The hysteresis loop of ferrofluid covered electroplated wire is not a simple sum of the ferrofluid “wire” plus non-covered wire signals. It indicates an interaction between magnetic wire and ferrofluid which can be revealed by low-frequency measurements. The combination “electroplated wire/ferrofluid” can be considered as a new type of composite magnetic material consisting of solid magnetic core coated by complementary liquid magnetic material. Low-frequency measurements in presence of ferrofluid can be a useful method to study magnetic properties of ferromagnets.     

Weakening effect of plastic yielding inception in thin hard coating systems

Hard coatings have been widely applied to enhance tribological performance of mechanical components.However,it was predicted that thin hard coatings may have a weakening effect which could reduce the coating/substrate system’s resistance to plastic yielding compared with the uncoated substrate material.In this paper,analytical simulation is utilized to investigate the origin of weakening effect.The functions of material mechanical properties and coating thickness on the weakening effect are theoretically investigated.Partial-unloading spherical nanoindentation tests are performed on tungsten coated single crystalline silicon and copper to acquire the stress-strain curves and compared with the uncoated cases.The experimental results are in consistence with the analytical solutions,demonstrating the presence of weakening effect.     

Coating stainless steel with diamond-like carbon using the hot filament chemical vapor deposition system,and its effects on fusion devices

Internal mirrors are used widely for plasma diagnostics in fusion devices. Therefore, keeping them in good optical condition is essential. The results of this experiment show that coating stainless steel 316l (S.S.316l) mirrors with diamond-like carbon (DLC) reduces the erosion rate and contamination of plasma by evaporation and sputtering and also increases the optical lifetime of these mirrors. For this purpose, firstly two similar S.S.316l samples were chosen. One of these samples was coated with DLC by a Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition device, while the other was kept intact as a reference for investigating the effect of DLC coating. Then, in order to study the coating effects, these samples were exposed to 200 shots of the hydrogen plasma, with a total duration of 7 s in tokamak. Before and after the exposure, samples were analyzed by the atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, and Spectrophotometer. It was found that the uncoated sample was damaged severely and its reflection dropped significantly, and the sample showed some cracks and some melting lines, while no significant change was observed on the surface characteristic of coated sample. Moreover, the weight loss of the uncoated was more in comparison to the coated, sample. Therefore, the results of this experiment showed that coating of S.S.316l by DLC is a useful method to strengthen this material against plasma erosion, and with further optimization, it could possibly be used in preparing plasma diagnostics mirrors.     

磁性d波超导/铁磁/磁性d波超导结中的约瑟夫森效应

通过求解磁性d波超导中的能隙和磁交换能的自洽方程, 研究磁性d波超导/铁磁/磁性d波超导结中的约瑟夫森电流. 计算结果表明: 1)临界电流随中间的铁磁层厚度呈现出两种不同周期的振荡混合, 通过增强铁磁层中的磁交换能q₀和铁磁/磁性d波超导界面处的势垒强度z₀, 短周期分量可从长周期中分离出来, 反之, 通过降低q₀和z₀, 长周期分量可从短周期中分离出来; 2)在两边磁性d波超导的磁化方向取平行时, 在取一些特定的铁磁层厚度下, 磁性d波超导中的磁交换能可增强系统的临界电流. 关键词： 磁性d波超导体 铁磁体 约瑟夫森电流     

Mechanically formed loss-tunable long-period fiber gratings realized on the periodic arrayed metal wires

A new method to tune the peak loss of mechanically formed long-period fiber gratings (MLPFGs) is proposed. Periodic arrayed metal wires are used to obtain the gratings along a single mode fiber (SMF). Self-maintaining gratings are achieved by the bonding force of an UV-adhesive between two glass plates. The initial index modulation formed at room temperature creates a maximum attenuation of −9 dB and −12 dB for coated and uncoated SMF, respectively. By changing the temperature, the peak loss is tuned due to the large thermal expansion of the UV-adhesive. Thermally tunable characteristics caused by the coating layer of the SMF are also described and compared with the results of the device with an uncoated SMF.     

Molecular dynamics study of effects of nickel coating on torsional behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube

The effects of nickel coating on the torsional behaviors of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) subject to torsion motion are investigated using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The simulation results show that regardless of chirality, defect or radius, nickel coating can considerably enhance the critical torque of SWCNTs. However, by comparing the critical torsion angle between nickel-coated SWCNTs and corresponding pristine SWCNTs, it is found that nickel coating in small-radius nanotubes does induce a reduction in the critical torsion angle. The results also show that the structural failure of nickel coated imperfect (9,0) SWCNT occurs at an obviously higher critical torque in comparison with uncoated (9,0) SWCNT with a vacancy defect. Furthermore, we also find that the critical torque of a short nickel coated SWCNT is bigger than that of a long one, while the critical torsion angle for a short tube is smaller than that for a long one.     

Properties of superfine superconducting filaments embedded in normal matrix

The size-, surface- and proximity-effects are combined for calculating the critical temperature and some unusual electromagnetic properties of superfine superconducting NbTi filaments (i.e. with a diameterd _s < 0·1 μm) in the neighbourhood of normal metal (Cu). It is shown that the existence of the one-dimensional flux line lattice is responsible for the extremely large values of the critical current densities in low magnetic fields (B < 0·2B _c2,B _c2 — the upper critical magnetic field), for the maximum of the volume pinning force at low magnetic fields (B _m ≈ 0·1B _c2, comparing withB _m≈ 0·5B _c2 in usual macroscopic multifilamentary NbTi superconductors), as well as for the peculiar minimum of the magnetization after reversing the magnetic field direction. The possible role of the frozen-in flux lines in creating flux lines of opposite direction is sketched. It is proposed that for practical purposes the superconducting filaments should be coated with electrically insulating material (e.g. cupro-nickel or dielectric) to destroy the electro-magnetic coupling between the filaments and to ensure low ac losses in the composite.