Analysis of bending effects on performance degradation of ITER-relevant Nb3Sn strand using the THELMA code

R. Zanino, D. P. Boso, M. Lefik, P. L. Ribani, L. Savoldi Richard, B. A. Schrefler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

The modeling of the effects of bending on single Nb3Sn strand DC performance (IC, n index) is presented for a bronze-route strand subjected to the same loading conditions as in an experiment performed at JAEA Naka, Japan [Y. Nunoya, et al., IEEE TAS 14 (2004) 1468-1472]. The strand is discretized in strand elements (SE) representing groups of twisted filaments in the bronze matrix, and in portions of the outer Cu annulus, electro-magnetically coupled in the THELMA code. The 3-D strain map in the filament region is computed with a newly developed, detailed thermo-mechanical model accounting for non-linear, temperature dependent material characteristics. With respect to our previous analysis [P.L.Ribani, et al., IEEE TAS 16 (2006) 860-863] several new updated ingredients, besides the new thermo-mechanical model, are used here, including more accurate thermal and mechanical properties for the materials, a jacket-like model for the outer Cu layer, IC and n index (interpolative) scaling from Durham University. The simulation results show an improved agreement with the experiments, in the degradation of the single-strand performance due to bending.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4523031
Pages (from-to)1067-1071
Number of pages5
JournalIEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity
Volume18
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2008

Keywords

  • Fusion reactors
  • ITER
  • Modeling
  • Superconducting filaments and wires

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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