The Study of Mechanical Properties of HTS Tapes for Power Cables Use

Power cables are considered as the most advanced HTS applications. During cables´ production numbers of HTS tapes are twisted around a circular former in several layers. The twisting leads to mechanical stresses for the tapes that may affect their superconducting properties. In this work we performed experiments to reproduce the influence of twisting on superconducting properties of HTS tapes. The HTS tapes were wound with different twist pitch around a former with the certain diameter and critical currents of tapes have been measured. We found the minimal twist pitch when the critical currents start decay after twisting. We tested several types of HTS tapes to compare their certified parameters with the measured ones. The details of the experimental method used are discussed and data about mechanical properties of different HTS tapes are presented.