FABRICATION OF MULTIFILAMENT CONDUCTORS: CVD PROCESSING OF HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTING COMPOSITE FIBERS.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE MECHANICAL AND SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES OF BULK CONDUCTORS IS CRUCIAL FOR THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IN AEROSPACE POWER TRANSMISSION AND PROPULSION APPLICATIONS. STATE-OF-THE-ART PROCESSING OF BULK HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING COMPONENTS GIVES MATERIAL WITH LOW CURRENT CARRY CAPACITIES AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES CONSTRAINED BY THE BRITTLENESS OF THE CERAMIC OXIDES. IN CONTRAST, HTSC THIN FILMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCED WITH CURRENT DENSITIES EXCEEDING 10(6) AMPS/CM(2). THE PROPOSED INNOVATION IS TO UTILIZE A THIN FILM DEPOSITION TECHNIQUE TO FABRICATION THE SUPERCONDUCTING COMPONENT OF A BULK CONDUCTOR WHOSE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES ARE IMPROVED THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY DEPOSITING HIGH QUALITY BI-SR-CA-CU-O FILMS BY METALORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION ON PLATINUM COATED TUNGSTEN FIBERS. THE CURRENT CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE SUPERCONDUCTING LAYER SHOULD APPROACH THAT ACHIEVABLE IN THIN FILMS AND THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE COMPOSITE FIBERS WILL BE DOMINATED BY THE HIGH STRENGTH OF THE TUNGSTEN CORE. IN PHASE II CONTINUOUS PROCESSING WILL BE DEVELOPED AND THE RESULTING FIBERS USED TO FABRICATE A MULTIFILAMENT CONDUCTORWITH ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES SUITABLE FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS.