Characterization of thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of Ag-alloy sheathed Bi(Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductor tape

We evaluated the effect of alloying additions to Ag on thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of Ag-alloy sheathed Bi-2223 (BSCCO) superconductor tape. The tapes were made with combinations of Ag alloys such as Ag-Mg, Ag-Sb, and Ag-Au for inner and outer sheath. Thermal conductivity of the tapes was evaluated by using thermal integral method at 10-120 K. It was observed that the addition of alloys reduced remarkably thermal conductivity and improved mechanical strength. The thermal conductivity for Ag-Mg, Ag-Sb, and Ag-Au at 40 K was measured to be 411.4, 142.3, and 109.7 W/(m·K), respectively, which is approximately 2 to 9 times lower than that of Ag (1004.6 W/(m·K)). In addition, the thermal conductivity of alloy-sheathed tape significantly depended on their thermal conductivity of sheath materials. For Ag-alloy sheathed tapes, the thermal conductivity was much lower (i.e., 5 -18 times lower) than that of the Ag sheathed tape The mechanical property of alloy-sheathed tape was also evaluated and correlated to the microstructural evolution.