Investigation on Critical Current Properties of Quasi-Isotropic Strand Made From Coated Conductors

The high-temperature superconducting (HTS) strand, with high current capacity and a round or square cross section, is expected to have widely potential applications in current leads and superconducting power devices since it is easily insulated to avoid point charging. This paper describes a quasi-isotropic strand made from coated conductors. The magnetic field distribution and critical current characteristic of the strand in self-field are simulated by the finite-element method and tested in liquid nitrogen. The result indicates that this strand has high current-carrying capacity. The critical currents in different external magnetic fields and various orientations were measured. It is verified by the experiments that the strand has isotropic characteristics in low magnetic field and weak anisotropy in higher field. The potential of the strands with high engineering current density makes them also suitable for high-field magnets and high-voltage power applications, while maintaining flexibility.