THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH STRENGTH SUPERCONDUCTION WIRE FOR HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD APPLICATIONS

RAPID DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED IN RECENT YEARS ON SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS THAT HAVE ALLOWED MAGNET DESIGNERS TO CONSIDER MAGNETS FOR FIELDS UP TO 20 T. AS THEMAGNETIC FIELD OR THE OPERATING CURRENT INCREASES, HOWEVER, SO DO THE ELECTROMAGNETIC STRESSES EXPERIENCED BY THE SUPERCONDUCTING WIRE IN THE MAGNET WINDING. AT STRAINS EXCEEDING THE ELASTIC TOLERANCE OF NB(3)SN, IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE AND CURRENT DENSITY (J(C)) DEGRADATION WILL FOLLOW. THE CURRENT DENSITY DEGRADATION BY THE LORENTZ FORCES POSES SEVERE DESIGN RESTRICTIONS FOR HIGH FIELD APPLICATIONSSUCH AS IN PLASMA FUSION CONFINEMENT SYSTEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS RESEARCH ON IDENTIFYING A CANDIDATE MATERIAL WITHHIGH STRENGTH PROPERTIES TO REPLACE OR SUPPLEMENT COPPER AS THE STABILIZER. INVESTIGATIONS AND ANALYSIS BASED ON HEAT TREATMENTS, MECHANICAL, AND ELECTRICAL CRYOGENIC TESTING WILL BE PERFORMED ON THE CANDIDATE MATERIALS CHOSEN. AFTER ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL MATERIALS, TWO CANDIDATES WILL BE CHOSEN FOR SAMPLE WIRE PROCESSING. FINALLY, THE SAMPLES WILL BE TESTED AND COMPARED FOR J(C), RESIDUAL RESISTIVITY RATIO, AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS.