Dependence on winding tensions for stability of a superconducting coil Original Research Article

The purpose of this study is to manufacture a high performance superconducting pulse coil by using high strength polyethylene fiber (DF; Dyneema® fiber) reinforced plastic (DFRP) or Dyneema–glass hybrid composite fiber reinforced plastic (DGFRP) as material of a coil bobbin, which has negative thermal expansion, low frictional coefficient and high thermal conductivity. Description in this paper is as follows. First, thermal strains of several kinds of FRP pipes made by filament-winding (FW) method are measured, and the measured results well agreed with calculated ones by our proposed calculation method about thermal strains of a FW-pipe form. This shows that thermal expansion can be controlled by the proposed design technique of a DGFRP FW-pipe. Moreover, frictional coefficients of FRP plates using as coil structural material are measured and frictional heats are calculated for respective material when contact forces are changed. From these results, we find that the lower winding tension of a coil generates the smaller frictional heat when the frictional coefficient of the coil structural material is low. Furthermore, we systematically measure quench characteristics of many specimens of small superconducting coils using DFRP or DGFRP bobbins with different thermal expansions. From the results of quench tests, we find that the higher winding tension’s coils tend to decrease quench current when the coil’s bobbin expanded to a direction of circumference during the cooling down to cryogenic temperature, and suitable values of winding tension in a coil are located in region of 2–4 kg/mm2. Finally, we design and manufacture 100 kJ class superconducting pulse coil by using a DGFRP bobbin, which wound in winding tension of 4 kg/mm2. In addition, we prepare another 100 kJ class coil with the higher winding tensions of 8 kg/mm2, and the quench characteristics of the coils are compared. The quench currents in the coils exceed the 95% rating on the load line for critical current value of a conductor, and a coil with winding tension of 4 kg/mm2 is more stable.