Superconducting Coil Segmented Cooling Substrate Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional superconducting coils with integrated glass fiber reinforced sheets require full replacement when pancake coils deteriorate, leading to significant time and cost damage, especially with rare earth element-based oxide superconducting wires, where quench detection is difficult.
Innovation Solution
A superconducting coil design with a cooling substrate composed of separable cooling plates allows for the replacement of individual pancake coils, maintaining thermal conductivity and mechanical strength, and integrating bonding elements for efficient cooling and repair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If pancake coils are integrated with glass fiber reinforced sheets using resin, then mechanical strength and thermal stability are improved, but repairability deteriorates requiring full coil replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling substrate is divided into multiple separable cooling plates that can be detached from individual pancake coils. This segmentation allows the cooling substrate to be separated into discrete units corresponding to each pancake coil, enabling selective replacement of only the faulty coil while maintaining the integrated structure where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The bonding elements are designed to be removable, allowing the cooling substrate to be extracted from individual pancake coils selectively. This extraction capability enables repair of specific faulty coils without disturbing the integration of other healthy coils with the cooling substrate, resolving the contradiction between maintaining mechanical strength through integration and enabling repair through separability.
2Reliability
If rare earth element-based oxide superconducting wires are used, then superconducting performance is improved, but detection of quench deteriorates making damage undetectable
Solution Approach 1:
The separable cooling plate structure provides a physical feedback mechanism that allows detection of issues at the individual pancake coil level. By enabling access to and separation of individual cooling plates, the system provides localized feedback about the thermal and operational status of each coil segment, making it possible to detect and respond to quenches or other issues in rare earth element-based wires before they affect the entire coil assembly.
3Reliability
If full coil replacement is performed when pancake coils deteriorate, then reliability is maintained, but time and cost loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling substrate is segmented into separable cooling plates that correspond to individual pancake coils. This segmentation enables the replacement process to be performed at the level of individual coils rather than requiring replacement of the entire coil assembly, significantly reducing the time and resources required for maintenance while maintaining reliability through selective replacement of only deteriorated segments.
4Reliability
If full coil replacement is performed when pancake coils deteriorate, then reliability is maintained, but material waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling substrate is divided into separable cooling plates that can be detached from individual pancake coils. This segmentation allows only the cooling plate associated with a deteriorated pancake coil to be removed and replaced, while the cooling plates associated with healthy coils remain in place. This selective replacement dramatically reduces material waste by avoiding the disposal of functional components that would be required in a full coil replacement scenario.
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
Enables cost-effective and timely repair of superconducting coils by replacing only the faulty pancake coil, minimizing waste and remanufacturing steps, while maintaining cooling efficiency and mechanical integrity.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of laminated pancake type superconducting coils may be used. Various structures, such as a structure in which laminated pancake type superconducting coils are cooled by heat conduction from a freezing machine
Implementation Method 2
bonding elements that bond the cooling substrate and the first pancake coil to each other and bond the cooling substrate and the second pancake coil to each other
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A superconducting coil includes: first and second pancake coils that are formed by winding a superconducting wire, are stacked in a thickness direction, and are adjacent to each other; and a cooling substrate that is provided in contact with an end surface of the first pancake coil and is separable into a plurality of cooling plates.