Design and fabrication of an HTS magnet for the VASIMR experiment

Author

Rey, C.M. ; Hoffman, W.C., Jr. ; Chang-Diaz ; Ilin, A.V. ; Petro, A.J. ; Winter, D.S. ; Mukai, H. ; Schwenterly, S.W.

Author_Institution

DuPont Supercond., Wilmington, DE, USA

Volume

12

Issue

1

fYear

2002

fDate

3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

993

Lastpage

996

Abstract

An International Team consisting of DuPont Superconductivity, Oak Ridge National Lab, the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory, and Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. has designed and fabricated a conduction-cooled High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) coil for use in the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR). The HTS coil will be installed and tested in the ongoing VASIMR experiment at the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. The HTS coil is 0.04 m in length, with a 0.23 m inner diameter, and has a mass less than 5.0 kg. The central operating magnetic field is a nominal 0.28 T with a design operating current of ∼105 A. The HTS coil is conduction cooled with a nominal operating temperature of 40 K. The HTS conductor uses a Bi-2223 material with a stainless steel backing strip for reinforcement. Details and test results of the mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic analyses are discussed.

Keywords

aerospace propulsion; bismuth compounds; calcium compounds; high-temperature superconductors; strontium compounds; superconducting coils; superconducting magnets; 0.28 T; 105 A; 40 K; Bi-2223 material; Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O; HTS magnet; VASIMR Experiment; Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket; conduction-cooled high temperature superconducting coil; electromagnetic analysis; magnetic field; mechanical analysis; stainless steel backing strip; thermal analysis; Conducting materials; Fabrication; High temperature superconductors; Laboratories; Magnetic materials; Propulsion; Superconducting coils; Superconducting magnets; Superconductivity; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2002.1018567

Filename

1018567