A15 superconducting wires produced by discontinuous fibre methods

The most promising discontinuous fibre methods for producing superconducting Cu-Nb3Sn composite wires are the "In Situ" and the powder metallurgical processing. These techniques, both based on the external Sn diffusion process, are compared to the conventional bronze route with particular attention to large scale fabrication. Critical current densities and their behavior under uniaxial stress are critically reviewed. The effect of Ta addition to the morphology of "In Situ" composites is illustrated.