AC Losses in ${\rm MgB}_{2}$ Multifilamentary Strands With Magnetic and Non-Magnetic Sheath Materials

Abstract

AC applied magnetic field loss measurements have been performed on MgB2 superconducting strands. We measured strands with six untwisted filaments made via an in-situ route with Nb chemical barriers, a Cu-inter-filamentary matrix, and with either non-magnetic (glidcop) or magnetic (monel) outer sheaths. AC losses in magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the wire axis have been measured in fields up to 140 mT (peak) in the frequency range 50-200 Hz in a liquid helium bath at 4.2 K. For samples with no ferromagnetic elements present in their matrix there is a reasonable agreement of the losses with the critical state model in low frequency region. At higher frequencies the losses are dominated by eddy currents in Cu matrix. The samples containing a weakly ferromagnetic matrix showed complex hysteresis loops and AC loss dependencies.