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We fabricated three racetrack coils (RC1, RC2, and RC3) from Bi-2212 Rutherford cables (17-strand, thickness × width = 1.44 mm × 7.8 mm, strand diameter = 0.8 mm) and applied overpressure processing heat treatment (OPHT). The quench currents of RC1 and RC2 reached 5268 A and 5781 A, respectively, despite them still, surprisingly, exhibiting some Bi-2212 leakage to the surface. After removing most of the leakages using a simple-to-implement insulation scheme, the quench current of RC3 improved to 6485 A, which is about three times the average quench current of a dozen racetrack coils that had been fabricated and reacted using the conventional 1 bar heat treatment. The results confirm the effectiveness of the OPHT technology and the new leakage control scheme for coils made from Bi-2212 Rutherford cables. Coils exhibited an increased quench current with increasing the current ramp rate from 5 to 200 A s-1; they were quite stable against point and transient disturbances, and were capable of adsorbing persistent Joule heating at ∼80 mW for >15 s before quenching. These behaviors are different from Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn accelerator magnets. Overall, our results provide a critical evaluation and verification of Bi-2212 wire and magnet technologies (wire, insulation, heat treatment, coil fabrication, and coil operation), reveal crucial new stability features of Bi-2212 magnets, and demonstrate technological options for it to become a practical high-field magnet technology.

In article I of this series, we described a spiral coil quench technique for probing the influence of the superconductor stress and strain state during normal operation on its margin to degradation during a quench and applied to a Bi-2212 round wire. Here we extend this technique to study the failure mechanisms and limits of high-strength Bi-2223 tapes experiencing a quench while carrying a large current in a high magnetic field. In contrast to Bi-2212 magnets made via a wind-and-react technique for which bending strains can be ignored, Bi-2223 magnets are made with a react-and-wind technique for which bending strain is significant. The critical tensile stress of Bi-2223 tapes (type HT-NX) decreases from >440 MPa for straight samples to 185 MPa after being bent to a diameter D of 50 mm. For HT-NX tapes with D = 50 mm, the quench degradation limit, measured using maximum allowable temperature during a quench T allowable, is greater than 300 K for axial tensile stress < 94 MPa; it decreases with increasing tensile axial stress nonlinearly, dropping to 230 K for = 125 MPa. T allow able experimental data at D = 50 mm is consistently predicted by a general strain model that assumes that quench degradation in NX/Bi-2223 is driven by axial tensile strain in Bi-2223 filaments exceeding the irreversible strain limit. The T allowable is then predicted for various D including D = 80 mm important for NMR magnets. The given T allowable is easy to use and important for finding the balance between operation stress, and therefore magnetic field generation efficiency, and operation margin when designing a superconducting magnet using Bi-2223 tapes.

The critical current of many practical superconductors is sensitive to strain, and this sensitivity is exacerbated during a quench that induces a peak local strain which can be fatal to superconducting magnets. Here, a new method is introduced to quantify the influence of the conductor stress and strain state during normal operation on the margin to degradation during a quench, as measured by the maximum allowable hot spot temperature T allowable, for composite wires within superconducting magnets. The first conductor examined is Ag-sheathed Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox round wire carrying high engineering critical current density, J E, of 550 A mm-2 at 4.2 K and 15 T. The critical axial tensile stress of this conductor is determined to be 150 MPa and, in the absence of Lorentz forces, T allowable is greater than 450 K. With increasing axial tensile stress, σ a, however, T allowable decreases nonlinearly, dropping to 280 K for σ a = 120 MPa and to 160 K for σ a = 145 MPa. T allowable(σ a) is shown to be nonlinear and independent of magnetic field from 15 to 30 T. T allowable(σ a) dictates the balance between magnetic field generation, which increases with the magnet operating current and stress, and the safety margin, which decreases with decreasing T allowable, and therefore has important engineering value. It is also shown that T allowable(σ a) can be predicted accurately by a general strain model, showing that strain control is the key to preventing degradation of superconductors during a quench.

REBa2Cu3Ox (REBCO) coated conductors are an enabling technology for >1 GHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers that need >23.5 T solenoids, compact high-field fusion reactors beyond the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, and 20 T class accelerator magnets. An in-depth understanding of stress and strain management is critically needed for these applications. Here, we report experimental data and an analysis of damages of REBCO-coated conductors in several scenarios relevant for their applications in high-field magnets and unique to their multi-layer thin film structure. The examined scenarios include failure induced by quench, failure induced by epoxy impregnation, and failure induced by a combination of epoxy impregnation and quench. The root cause is film blistering and peeling induced by thermally interfacial stresses characteristic of multilayered heteroepitaxial thin film structures on thick substrates utilized. The quantitative stress analysis is introduced using simple and easy to use formulas and clearly indicates how materials and structural characteristics affect the magnitude and the distribution of stresses and deflections. Finally, a simple method is introduced for removing degradation of REBCO coated conductors due to epoxy impregnation. Our data and analysis help our understanding of the practical limit of REBCO-coated conductors and can be utilized as a guidance for the physical design of REBCO coated conductors and high-current cables assembled from them and for minimizing damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long lengths of metal/MgB 2 composite conductors with high critical current density (J c ), fabricated by the power-in-tube (PIT) process, have recently become commercially available. Owing to its electromagnetic performance in the 20 K - 30 K range and relatively low cost, MgB 2 may be attractive for a variety of applications. One of the key issues for magnet design is stability and quench protection, so the behavior of MgB 2 wires and magnets must be understood before large systems can emerge. In this work, the stability and quench behavior of several conduction-cooled MgB 2 wires are studied. Measurements of the minimum quench energy and normal zone propagation velocity are performed on short samples in a background magnetic field up to 3 T and on coils in self-field and the results are explained in terms of variations in the conductor architecture, electrical transport behavior, operating conditions (transport current and background magnetic field) and experimental setup (short sample vs small coil). Furthermore, one coil is quenched repeatedly with increasing hot-spot temperature until J c is decreased. It is found that degradation during quenching correlates directly with temperature and not with peak voltage; a safe operating temperature limit of 260 K at the surface is identified.