Develop Technology to Produce Long Lengths of Nb3Al Superconductor Wire

51146-98-I Production of Long Lengths of Nb3Al Superconductor Wire--INNOVARE, Inc., 7277 Park Drive, Bath, PA 18014-8854; (610) 837-8830 Dr. Alfred R. Austen, Principal Investigator Dr. Alfred R. Austen, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82598 Amount: $75,000 Niobium aluminide superconductor wires are used in magnets for high energy physics and fusion research. The barrier to making the required long lengths of this wire is breakage during the final wire drawing reduction of the niobium-aluminum composite precursor wire. In this project, new hydrostatic extrusion technology will be developed to replace the wire drawing technology for the final 5 to 1 diameter reduction process for the composite wire. Hydrostatic extrusion requires that the long lengths of wire be coiled to fit into the relatively short, high pressure hydrostatic extrusion chamber. In Phase I, the feasibility of the new hydrostatic extrusion technology will be investigated to demonstrate that: (1) the composite wire can be coiled and straightened without damage, (2) the extrusion pressure can be reduced by a factor of two or more by elevating the temperature of the process to as high as 350¿C, and (3) hot hydrostatic extrusion will not cause defect formation be adversely changing the relative strengths of the composite components. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Long lengths of niobiom-aluminum wire would be ideal for making the next generation of more reliable high field dipole magnets in the 15-20 Tesla magnetic field range. Also, for high energy physics and fusion research, Nb3Al superconductor would be very desirable as an insert coil material for a small Nb3Sn magnet to raise the overall magnetic field._