Toward an accurate scaling relation for the critical current in niobium-tin conductors

Until a few years ago, a set of equations commonly referred to as the Summers relations gave the most accurate description of the critical current in Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors as a function of applied field, temperature and axial strain. Although highly empirical, they describe reasonably well the critical current data of past Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors. New data from various types of Nb/sub 3/Sn conductors, as well as recent analysis of the ITER CS model coil results reveal however, that this description lacks the precision, required to correlate the conductor data to the model coil results. This discrepancy, attributed to the highly empirical background for the relations, manifests itself mainly in the strain- and temperature dependence. The development of an alternative, more accurate description of the behavior of the critical current, starting from a more fundamental description of the strain dependence, has been initiated. At the moment, the development concentrates around the improvement of the temperature dependency relations to achieve a better accuracy of the overall descriptions, especially in the high temperature region

Scaling of the critical current in ITER type niobium-tin superconductors in relation to the applied field, temperature and uni-axial applied strain

The three dimensional surface of the critical current density versus field and temperature Jc(B,T) of niobium-tin is a function of the strain state of the superconductor. A brief review of literature on this subject is presented. The Jc(B) function is described by the relations for flux pinning. The temperature and strain dependencies are added to this relation, This results in a unifying scaling law for A15 materials, which is verified for different niobium-tin conductors with respect to all the relevant variables, i.e. field, temperature and uni-axial strain. Nb3Sn conductors from 9 manufacturers are measured in the frame work of the third ITER benchmark tests on critical current. The investigated ranges are: applied field from 7 to 13 T, temperature from 4.2 to 8 K and applied strain from -0.4 to +0.8%. Special attention is paid to the region of compressive axial strain, which is the most relevant state of strain for superconductors under thermal compression in practical application

To Crack or Not to Crack: Strain in High TemperatureSuperconductors

Round wire Bi 2212 is emerging as a viable successor ofNb3Sn in High Energy Physics and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, to generatemagnetic fields that surpass the intrinsic limitations of Nb3Sn. Ratherbold claims are made on achievable magnetic fields in applications usingBi 2212, due to the materials' estimated critical magnetic field of 100 Tor higher. High transport currents in high magnetic fields, however, leadto large stress on, and resulting large strain in the superconductor. Theeffect of strain on the critical properties of Bi-2212 is far fromunderstood, and strain is, as with Nb3Sn, often treated as a secondaryparameter in the design of superconducting magnets. Reversibility of thestrain induced change of the critical surface of Nb3Sn, points to anelectronic origin of the observed strain dependence. Record breaking highfield magnets are enabled by virtue of such reversible behavior. Straineffects on the critical surface of Bi-2212, in contrast, are mainlyirreversible and suggest a non-electronic origin of the observed straindependence, which appears to be dominated by the formation of cracks inthe superconductor volumes. A review is presented of available results onthe effects of strain on the critical surface of Bi-2212, Bi-2223 andYBCO. It is shown how a generic behavior emerges for the (axial) straindependence of the critical current density, and how the irreversiblereduction of the critical current density is dominated by strain inducedcrack formation in the superconductor. From this generic model it becomesclear that magnets using high temperature superconductors will be strainlimited far before the intrinsic magnetic field limitations will beapproached, or possibly even before the magnetic field limitation ofNb3Sn can be surpassed. On a positive note, in a very promising recentresult from NIST on the axial strain dependence of the critical currentdensity in extremely well aligned YBCO, reversible behavior was observed.This result emphasizes the need for further conductor development,specifically for round wire Bi-2212, to generate a wire with a similarreversible dependence on strain. Availability of such a wire will enablethe construction of magnets that can indeed generate fields that farsurpass the limitations of Nb3Sn superconductors

The critical current of Nb3Sn wires for ITER as a function of the axial tension and compression

The influence of compressive and tensile axial strains on the critical current of various Nb3Sn conductors is investigated. The investigated multifilamentary wires are especially developed for the ITER project. The critical current is determined as a function of an axial tension in a standard pull set-up. These results are compared with the results that are obtained on a bending spring-type strain device. In this second device an axial compression larger than the integral thermal shrinkage of the matrix, can be achieved. A study of the field dependence of the critical current yields the strain dependence of the extrapolated upper-critical field versus the axial strain. A good correlation is found between the two different strain devices in the tensile strain regime. There is a difference in the (limited) compressive strain regime where such a comparison can be mad

Radiation damage to BSCCO-2223 from 50 protons.

The use of HTS materials in high radiation environments requires that the superconducting properties remain constant up to a radiation high dose. BSCCO-2223 samples from two manufacturers were irradiated with 50 MeV protons at fluences of up to 5 x 10{sup 17} protons/cm{sup 2}. The samples lost approximately 75% of their pre-irradiation I{sub c}. This compares with Nb{sub 3}Sn, which loses about 50% at the same displacements per atom

Fabrication of a Short-Period Nb3Sn Superconducting Undulator

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory develops high-field Nb{sub 3}Sn magnets for HEP applications. In the past few years, this experience has been extended to the design and fabrication of undulator magnets. Some undulator applications require devices that can operate in the presence of a heat load from a beam. The use of Nb{sub 3}Sn permits operation of a device at both a marginally higher temperature (5-8K) and a higher J{sub c}, compared to NbTi devices, without requiring a larger magnetic gap. A half-undulator device consisting of 6 periods (12 coil packs) of 14.5 mm period was designed, wound, reacted, potted and tested. It reached the short sample current limit of 717A in 4 quenches. The non-Cu Jc of the strand was over 7,600 A/mm{sup 2} and the Cu current density at quench was over 8,000 A/mm{sup 2}. Magnetic field models show that if a complete device was fabricated with the same parameters one could obtain beam fields of 1.1 T and 1.6 T for pole gaps of 8 mm and 6 mm, respectively

Test, trace, isolate:Evidence for declining SARS-CoV-2 PCR sensitivity in a clinical cohort

Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on upper respiratory tract (URT) samples is the primary method to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infections and guide public health measures, with a supportive role for serology. We reinforce previous findings on limited sensitivity of PCR testing, and solidify this fact by statistically utilizing a firm basis of multiple tests per individual. We integrate stratifications with respect to several patient characteristics such as severity of disease and time since onset of symptoms. Bayesian statistical modelling was used to retrospectively determine the sensitivity of RT-PCR using SARS-CoV-2 serology in 644 COVID-19-suspected patients with varying degrees of disease severity and duration. The sensitivity of RT-PCR ranged between 80% − 95%; increasing with disease severity, it decreased rapidly over time in mild COVID-19 cases. Negative URT RT-PCR results should be interpreted in the context of clinical characteristics, especially with regard to containment of viral transmission based on ‘test, trace and isolate’

Advances in Nb3Sn Performance

Nb{sub 3}Sn wires with non-Cu critical current densities (J{sub c}) that surpass 3 kAmm{sup -2} at 12 T and 4.2 K are commercially available in piece lengths longer than 10 km. Accelerator-type magnets that utilize these conductors have achieved record magnetic fields. This article summarizes key developments in the last decade that have led to these significant improvements in the performance of Nb{sub 3}Sn wires