Hardness and tensile strength of multifilamentary metal–matrix composite superconductors for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Conventional indentation hardness measurements to obtain load independent Vickers hardness values for the different phases in multifilamentary superconducting (SC) wires are described. The concept of composite hardness is validated for a binary metal– matrix metal–filament Nb–Ti/Cu composite wire. The tensile materials properties of the individual wire components are estimated from their indentation hardness. The potential and limitations of this approach are critically discussed, based on a comparison with ensile test results obtained for wires and extracted Nb–Ti filaments.