HTS Cable Subassembly Rectangular Cross-Section Anisotropy
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) power transmission cables have limited current-carrying capacity due to their geometry, particularly when used in solenoidal magnet configurations, and are not optimized for uniform current density, limiting their effectiveness in high-field magnet applications.
Innovation Solution
A high-temperature superconducting cable subassembly with a rectangular cross-section, comprising a stack of HTS tapes wrapped with a non-superconducting material, arranged in a parallel fashion and oriented perpendicularly to each other within a cable assembly, which allows for increased critical current and reduced anisotropic effects, enabling higher current density and improved performance in high-field magnets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If HTS power transmission cables are used in solenoidal magnet configurations, then the cables can transmit high current, but the critical current capacity is limited due to the geometry of the cable configuration and anisotropic effects
Solution Approach 1:
The cable is segmented into multiple independent HTS tape conductors arranged in parallel within a common insulation structure. Each tape can be independently oriented to optimize current carrying capacity in different directions, allowing the cable to achieve higher overall critical current capacity while maintaining a manageable geometric configuration that reduces anisotropic effects
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional twisted or stacked tape configurations to a parallel arrangement where tapes are oriented in multiple dimensions within the cable cross-section. This multi-dimensional arrangement allows current to flow through multiple parallel paths with optimized orientations, significantly increasing the effective critical current capacity while distributing the magnetic field exposure more uniformly across all tapes
2Ease of manufacture
If standard cable formations are used with HTS tapes, then the cables can be manufactured with available technology, but the current-carrying capacity is inherently limited when employed in solenoidal magnet configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The cable structure is divided into multiple discrete HTS tape conductors that can be individually manufactured using existing HTS tape production technology. These segmented tapes are then assembled in a parallel configuration within a standardized insulation structure, maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving superior current-carrying capacity through the combined effect of multiple parallel current paths
Solution Approach 2:
The cable employs a composite structure combining multiple HTS tape materials (such as Bi-2223 and REBCO) with different orientation characteristics, embedded in a non-superconducting insulation matrix. This composite approach allows optimization of current carrying capacity by selecting and arranging tapes with complementary properties, achieving high performance while using readily available HTS materials
3Ease of manufacture
If HTS tapes are arranged in twisted or stacked configurations, then the cables can be formed with available technology, but uniform current density cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
Each HTS tape within the cable is positioned with a specific local orientation optimized for its intended current carrying function. The parallel arrangement allows each tape to maintain its optimal crystallographic orientation relative to the magnetic field, ensuring uniform current density distribution across all tapes. This local optimization of each tape's position and orientation within the overall cable structure achieves both manufacturability and current density uniformity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances the critical current capacity of HTS cables, allowing them to effectively support higher magnetic fields and improve current density, addressing the limitations of prior art HTS cables in magnet applications.
Implementation Method 1
a first HTS tape of the plurality of tapes in the first stack has a first critical current and a second HTS tape of the plurality of tapes in the first stack has a second critical current, each of the first critical current and the second critical current determined at a critical temperature
Implementation Method 2
REBCO is highly anisotropic: if the tape wide surface is exposed to a magnetic field perpendicular to its surface, the critical current at a given temperature is substantially smaller than if the field is parallel
Data Source
AI summary
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) devices and methods are disclosed. An HTS cable subassembly has a rectangular shaped cross section. The subassembly includes a stack of tapes formed of a superconducting material, and a cable subassembly wrapper wrapped around the stack of tapes. The tapes in the stack are slidably arranged in a parallel fashion. A cable assembly is formed of a cable assembly wrapper formed of a second non-superconducting material disposed around an n×m array of cable subassemblies. Within a cable assembly, a first cable subassembly of the array of subassemblies is oriented substantially perpendicular to a second cable subassembly with regard to the plurality of tapes. A compound-cable assembly is formed by joining two or more cable assemblies. A high-temperature superconducting magnet is formed of a solenoidal magnet as well as dipole and quadrupole magnets wound of a cable subassembly, a cable assembly, and/or a compound cable assembly.