Improvement of I_c degradation of HTS Conductor (FAIR Conductor) and FAIR Coil Structure for Fusion Device

Abstract

As a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) conductor with a large current capacity applicable to a nuclear fusion experimental device, REBCO (REBa2CuOy) tapes and high-purity aluminum sheets are alternately laminated, placed in a groove of an aluminum alloy jacket having a circular cross section, and the lid is friction-stir welded. To make the current distribution and mechanical characteristics uniform, the conductor is twisted at the end of the manufacturing process. In the early prototype conductor, when the Ic was measured in liquid nitrogen under self-magnetic field conditions, Ic degradations were observed from the beginning, and the characteristic difference between the two prototype samples under the same manufacturing conditions were large. Furthermore, Ic degradation was progressed by repeating the thermal cycle from room temperature to liquid nitrogen temperature. This Ic degradation did not occur uniformly in the longitudinal direction of the conductor but was caused by local Ic degradation occurring at multiple locations. If the conductor was not manufactured uniformly in the longitudinal direction, the difference in thermal shrinkage between the REBCO tape and the aluminum alloy jacket caused local stress concentration in the REBCO tape and buckling occurred. Element experiments to explain this mechanism were conducted to clarify the conditions under which Ic degradation due to buckling occurs. Then prototype conductors were tested with improved manufacturing methods, and as a result, Ic degradation could be suppressed to 20% or less. We have achieved the prospect of producing a conductor with uniform characteristics in the longitudinal direction.

Characteristics and causes of voltage observed at the current feeder of high-temperature superconducting WISE conductor

“…Because a significant change of the magnetic field like in tokamaks does not occur, a concerned AC loss is not expected and an application of a stacked conductor is available. In National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) has studied three types of HTS conductors with different concepts (STARS (Stacked Tapes Assembled in Rigid Structure) [4], FAIR (FSW, Al-alloy, Indirect-cooling, REBCO) [5], and WISE (Wound and Impregnated Stacked Elastic tapes) [6]), which brings the benefits of diversity to the study of HTS conductors. In this article, we report the characteristics of the WISE conductor.…”