VAMAS Nb{sub 3}Sn test conductor

Abstract

A bronze-process Nb{sub 3}Sn conductor was measured as part of the second VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) international critical-current round robin. The conductor specifications are given in Table 15. The critical current was measured as a function of magnetic field and axial tensile strain. The measured data are presented in Table 16 and in Figs. 23 and 24. The I{sub c} and J{sub c} values are based on an electric field criterion (E{sub c}) of 1 {mu}V/cm. In the first VAMAS round robin tests, differences in the test specimens` axial strain, caused by variations in the thermal contraction of different test fixtures, was a major source of interlaboratory variation in the critical-current data. Consequently, electromechanical characterization of the test specimen is important for data interpretation and error analysis. In the second round robin, the test apparatus and procedure were more rigidly specified. This increased experimental control reduced the critical-current variation by a factor of 3.5. The results of our measurements will be published in the final VAMAS report.