• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.32-39
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• 2023

One of the main problems faced in developing India's first HTS power cable was that of shrinkage in length of the double-walled vacuum-insulated cryostat. The shrinkage was due to the evacuation of the annular vacuum space which results in a shorter working cable length. This work reports experimentally observed contraction during evacuation and analyses corrugated pipes/bellows which house the cable core of HTS cables. The effect of corrugation geometry including length, corrugation pitch and depth, diameters of corrugated pipes and thicknesses of pipes is studied numerically to realize the degree of shrinkage due to vacuum as well as chill down. Finally, necessary length compensation and associated cost is determined to tackle the shrinkage issue.