Experimental results of 40-kA Nb3Al conductor
Abstract
A 40-kA Nb3Al conductor was developed for the toroidal field (TF) coils of the experimental fusion reactors. Presently, Nb3Sn is mainly used for high-field superconductor (more than 12 T) and is commercially available in a various type. On the other hand, the critical current (Ic) degradation of the Nb3Al was only 5% under an intrinsic axial strain of 0.4%, according to the experimental results. In case of Nb3Sn, the degradation was 30%. Therefore, it is shown that Nb3Al has excellent mechanical performance and it very useful for the toroidal field coil which is operated under large electromagnetic force. However, Nb3Al is not practical to use at present due to the difficulty of its fabrication. This conductor could be operated up to the current of 46 kA at an external field of 11.2 T, which was the required field of the TF coils in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). According to this development, Nb3Al will become a useful superconductor for large-scale, high-field application, such as the fusion machine.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- March 1993
- Bibcode:
- 1993STIN...9427821T
- Keywords:
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- Aluminum;
- Electric Current;
- Field Coils;
- Magnetic Fields;
- Niobium;
- Superconductors;
- Toroids;
- Electromagnetic Fields;
- Fabrication;
- Fusion Reactors;
- Magnetic Field Configurations;
- Quenching;
- Superconducting Magnets;
- Superconductivity;
- Toroidal Plasmas;
- Electronics and Electrical Engineering