• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.16-20
• /
• 2023

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61788-26:2020 provides guidelines for measuring the critical current of Rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) tapes using two methods: linear ramp and step-hold methods. The critical current measurement criterion, 1 or 0.1 μV/cm of electric field from IEC 61788-26 has been normally applied to REBCO coils or magnets. No-insulation (NI) winding technique has many advantages in aspects of electrical and thermal stability and mechanical integrity. However, the leak current from the NI REBCO coil can cause distortion in critical current measurement due to the characteristic resistance which causes the radial current flow paths. In this paper, we simulated the NI REBCO coil by applying both linear ramp and step-hold methods based on a simplified equivalent circuit model. Using the circuit analysis, we analyzed and evaluated both methods. By using the equivalent circuit model, we can evaluate the critical current of the NI REBCO coil, resulting in an estimation error within 0.1%. We also evaluate the accuracy of critical current measurement using both the linear ramp and step-hold methods. The accuracy of the linear ramp method is influenced by the inductive voltage, whereas the accuracy of the step-hold method depends on the duration of the hold-time. An adequate hold time, typically 5 to 10 times the time constant (τ), makes the step-hold method more accurate than the linear ramp method.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.16-19
• /
• 2018

This paper presents analytical and numerical simulation approaches on charging characteristics of no-insulation (NI) REBCO pancake coil by using the equivalent circuit model to estimate magnetic performance response in the coil. The analytical methods provide closed form or definite solution in the form of complete mathematical expressions but they are hard to solve the complex problems. Numerical methods have become popular with the development of the computing capabilities to solve the problems which are impossible or very hard to solve analytically. First of all, the equivalent circuit model are proposed to develop the simulation code for both analytical and numerical method. The charging test was performed under critical current to obtain magnetic field induced and terminal voltage through the radial as well as spiral current paths within the coil. To verify the validity of both proposed methods, the simulation results were compared and discussed with the experimental results.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.40-45
• /
• 2022

The electrical/thermal stabilities and magnetic field controllability of a no-insulation (NI) high-temperature superconducting magnet are characterized by contact resistance between turn-to-turn layers, and the contact resistance characteristics are determined by properties of conductor surface and winding tension. In order to accurately predict the electromagnetic characteristics of the NI coil in a design stage, it is necessary to control the contact resistance characteristics within the design target parameters. In this paper, the contact resistance and critical current characteristics of a rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) conductor were measured to analyze the effects of surface treatment conditions (roughness and oxidation level) of the copper stabilizer layer in REBCO conductor. The test samples with different surface roughness and oxidation levels were fabricated and conductor surface analysis was performed using scanning electron microscope, alpha step surface profiler and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Moreover, the contact resistance and critical current characteristics of the samples were measured using the four-terminal method in a liquid nitrogen impregnated cooling environment. Compared with as-received REBCO conductor sample, the contact resistance values of the REBCO conductors, which were post-treated by the scratch and oxidation of the surface of the copper stabilizer layer, tended to increase, and the critical current values were decreased under certain roughness and oxidation conditions.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.31-35
• /
• 2019

The lumped-parameter circuit model for a no- insulation (NI) high temperature superconductor (HTS) magnet has been well understood after many experimental and analytic studies over a decade. It successfully explains the non-linear charging behaviors of NI magnets. Yet, recently, multiple groups reported that the post-quench electromechanical behaviors of an NI HTS magnet may not be well explained by the lumped circuit model. The characteristic resistance of an NI magnet is one of the key parameters to characterize the so-called "NI behaviors" of an NI magnet and recently a few groups reported a potential that the characteristic resistance of an NI magnet may substantially vary during a quench. This paper deals with this issue, the increment of contact resistance of the no-insulation (NI) REBCO magnet during a quench and its impact on the post-quench behaviors. A 7 T 78 mm NI REBCO magnet that was previously built by the MIT Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory was chosen for our simulation to investigate the increment of contact resistance to better duplicate the post-quench coil voltages in the simulation. The simulation results showed that using the contact resistance value measured in the liquid nitrogen test, the magnitude of the current through the coil must be much greater than the critical current. This indicates that the value of the contact resistance should increase sharply after the quench occurs, depending on the lumped circuit model.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.48-52
• /
• 2019

Recently, many studies have been reported on the magnetoresistance and Hall effect of REBCO thin films and bulk. The voltage interferes quench detection of high-temperature superconducting magnet and generates leakage current in no insulation high-temperature superconducting coil. Therefore, in this paper, experiments on magnetoresistance and Hall effect of commercial YBCO and GdBCO tapes have been carried out. As a result, anomalous voltages expected for the magnetoresistance and Hall effect of REBCO tapes were observed and analyzed. In addition, the voltage characteristics of REBCO have been identified, and the Hall coefficient are calculated for use in high magnetic field magnet applications.