The fabrication and characterisation of high strength copper/stainless steel conductors for pulsed magnets

Calculations have indicated that the simple macro composite conductor that comprises copper with a stainless steel sheath may be the best to use in high field pulsed magnets > 50 T. The recently commissioned wire fabrication facility of the Clarendon Laboratory can finish this type of conductors to the required size and cold work, after industrial preprocessing. The conductors have strengths in excess of 1.2 GPa. In this paper we describe the facility and the mechanical and electrical characterisation of the wires. We also report on our measurements of the temperature distribution in a macro composite wire during and after a typical pulse.