Multifilament Extrusion Cuprate Superconductors

70020 Future high energy physics devices require large quantities of high performance superconducting strand at a reasonable cost. Although oxide superconductors offer superior performance and higher field than presently available metallic conductors, they are made in small quantities using labor intensive methods. Cutting these high production costs would make them technically and economically viable candidates for future particle accelerators. This project will apply previously developed extrusion technology to produce large quantities of high field superconducting strand at reduced cost. Instead of using the conventional fabrication method of hand stacking and cold drawing, a double extrusion process will be used to produce large quantities of multifilament oxide powder in tube strand directly. In Phase I, billets will be fabricated using pre-compressed (commercially available) oxide superconductor, extruded and drawn to wire of appropriate size for Rutherford cable application. Critical currents will be determined in fields up to 16T. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The multifilamentary superconducting oxide strands should achieve high current densities in fields of 16 T and higher. They should be applicable in DOE High Energy Physics particle colliders, fusion and magnetic energy storage devices, high field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance systems, and electric power equipment such as motors, generators, and transformers.