Fracture behavior of superconductor REBCO tapes with multiple edge cracks under electromagnetic force

Abstract

It is often necessary to narrow wide tapes through a slitting process in applications of the second-generation high-temperature superconductor REBa2Cu3O7-x (REBCO, RE = rare earth) tapes. However, this results in some random length edge cracks appearing on the slit edge and extending at certain angles towards the center of the tape. In this paper, we proposed a randomly distributed multiple-edge crack model to investigate the fracture mechanism of the superconducting tape under electromagnetic force due to high magnetic fields and current density (∼10 T and ∼ 1010A/m2). The electromagnetic body force distributions within the superconducting tape, incorporating multiple edge cracks, are simulated based on the H-formulation. Then a fracture analysis is conducted under the combined loading of tensile and electromagnetic forces, with the numerical calculation of stress intensity factors (SIFs) using the J-integral method. To validate the model's accuracy, we compare the body force distribution caused by an edge crack and the SIFs of edge cracks under uniform tension with existing results. Detailed analyses are undertaken to explore the impacts of electromagnetic body force non-uniformity, interactions between neighboring cracks, and the stochastic nature of geometrical parameters (length, angle, and spacing) on the fracture behavior under an alternating magnetic field. Numerical results indicate that non-uniform electromagnetic body forces arising from defects are a critical factor in crack propagation. Furthermore, the randomness of the geometrical parameters amplifies the interactions between some of the neighboring cracks, causing the tendency of the tape containing random edge cracks to fracture. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid random cracks with substantial length, angle, and spacing during the mechanical slitting process.