Study of the potential of three different MgB2 tapes for application in cylindrical coils operating at 20 K

Abstract

The goal of this theoretical study is to illustrate the potential of three different MgB2 tapes, developed by Columbus Superconductors, for application in cylindrical coils. First, the distribution of critical currents and electric fields of individual turns is compared when the winding of the model coil is made with tapes having different Ic(B) and anisotropy values. Second, the influence of the winding geometry on basic parameters of cylindrical coils which consist of a set of pancake coils, such as critical current Icmin, central magnetic field B0 and stored energy E, is analysed. The winding geometry of the coils, i.e. the outer winding radius and the coil length, with the same inner winding radius, was changed from a disc shape to a long thin solenoid in such a way that the overall tape length was held constant, and considered as a parameter. Finally, the winding cross-section of the coil is optimized with respect to the constant tape length in order to reach the maximum central field. The results of calculations show that for a given overall tape length and inner winding radius there exists only one winding geometry which generates the maximum central field. The overall tape length, as a parameter, is changed in a broad range from 500 m to 10 km. All calculations were performed using the experimental data measured at 20 K while the effect of the anisotropy in the Ic(B) characteristic of the short samples is taken into account.