Superconducting Wire Development
Overview
- Superconducting wires conducting dc incur very low losses
- Superconductors used for AC conducting incur hysteresis and eddy current losses in that require increased cooling capacity at a system level and limit the AC frequency.
- NASA has made significant progress developing and characterizing new, higher frequency (>200Hz), AC superconductors that could be used in electrical machines
- Through a series of NASA SBIR contracts, fabrication techniques for MgB2-based conductors were improved, and small filament sizes as low as 10 μm were demonstrated.
- NASA has also sponsored the development of an experimental capability to calorimetrically measure ac losses and stability properties of superconductors at temperatures as low as 15 K under simultaneous ac transport current and rotating and pulsating magnetic fields as would occur in rotating machine stators
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