Study of the demagnetization behavior of no-insulation persistent-current mode HTS coils under external AC fields by 3D FEM simulation

Abstract

The no-insulation (NI) winding technique is promising for applications in the persistent-current mode (PCM) operation of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils. To produce an NI PCM coil, it is essential to understand its demagnetization behavior (i.e. decay of persistent DC current) under an external AC field, which occurs in maglev trains, electric machines and other dynamic magnet systems. For this purpose, a 3D finite-element method (FEM) model, capturing the full electromagnetic properties of NI HTS coils is established. This work studied three kinds of AC fields, observing the impact of turn-to-turn contact resistivity on demagnetization rates, which is attributed to current distribution modulations. Under a transverse AC field, the lower contact resistivity attracts more transport current to flow in the radial pathway to bypass the ‘dynamic resistance’ generated in the superconductor, leading to slower demagnetization. Under an axial AC field, the demagnetization rate exhibits a non-monotonic relation with the contact resistivity: (1) the initial decrease in contact resistivity leads to a concentration of induced AC current on the outer turns, which accelerates the demagnetization; (2) the further decrease in contact resistivity makes the current smartly redistribute to avoid flowing through the loss-concentrated outer turns, thus slowing down the demagnetization. Under a rotating DC field, a hybrid of transverse and axial fields, the impact of contact resistivity on the demagnetization rate exhibits combined characteristics of the transverse and axial components. Additionally, quantitative prediction of the demagnetization rate of NI PCM coil under external AC field is instructive for practical designs and operations, which is tested by this 3D FEM model, and a comparison with experimental results is conducted.