The Importance of Geometrical Parameters on the Mechanical Stability of Roebel Cables

Abstract

AC loss from Roebel cables with high-temperature superconducting strands are comparatively less, and they possess large current carrying capacity since they have a transposed structure. However, the strands should be strong enough to withstand various types of external loads during their operation. The present work simulates the performance of the Roebel strand against an external tensile load using 3-D finite element analysis, and the importance of geometrical parameters on the mechanical stability of Roebel cables is investigated. Results were then compared with another work where the analyses were performed on a monolithic Roebel strand. We concluded that the typical twisting of the strands is an important parameter that cannot be ignored when optimizing a Roebel cable. Hence, the stress induced in a Roebel strand against an external load depends not only on the geometrical parameters but also on the typical twisting of the strand.