OPTIMIZATION OF PROPERTIES OF DUCTILE SUPERCONDUCTING ALLOYS FOR OPERATION UP TO 10 T

RECENTLY, SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN JC'S OF NBTI FINE FILAMENTARY WIRE HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED AT FIELDS OF 5 TO 8 T INMATERIALS WITH BOTH FINE AND COARSE FILAMENTS, BUT QUESTIONSHAVE BEEN RAISED AS TO THE DUCTILITY AND PIECE LENGTHS THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED COMMERCIALLY IN THE FINE FILAMENT WIRES WITH THE HIGHEST JC'S. THE FACTORS AFFECTING PIECE LENGTH AND DUCTILITY IN WIRES CONTAINING BOTH SIZES OF FILAMENTS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. RECENTLY, THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASEDINTEREST IN MATERIAL FOR 10 T DIPOLES AND AN OPTIMIZATION OF THE HIGH JC MATERIAL AT FIELDS OF 10 T WILL BE CARRIED OUT. TESTING WILL TAKE PLACE AT TEMPERATURES BELOW 4.2 K, AND BOTH BINARY NBTI AND TWO TERNARY NBTITA ALLOYS WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN PHASE I, IF THE NBTITA MATERIAL CAN BE OBTAINED QUICKLY ENOUGH. OTHERWISE ONLY THE BINARY ALLOY WILL BE OPTIMIZED. IN PHASE II THE WORK AT 10 T AND LOW TEMPERATURES ON BOTH TERNARY AND BINARY ALLOYS WILL BE CONTINUED AND SCALE-UP OF THE PROCESSES TO COMMERCIAL SIZE BILLETS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THAT DUCTILITY IS NOT ADVERSELY AFFECTED.