Time-variant magnetic field, voltage, and loss of no-insulation (NI) HTS magnet induced by dynamic resistance generation from external AC fields

Abstract

High-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils serving as DC magnets can be operated under non-negligible AC fields, like in synchronous machines of maglev trains and wind turbines. In these conditions, dynamic resistance is generated in HTS tapes, causing redistribution/bypassing of the transport current inside the no-insulation (NI) coil and its unique operational features. This issue was studied by experiments on an NI coil with DC current supply put into external AC fields. Due to the current redistribution induced by dynamic resistance, the central magnetic field and voltage of the NI magnet initially undergo various transient processes, and eventually exhibit a stable central magnetic field reduction and a DC voltage. These time evolutions have implications for the time-varying torque and loss of an HTS machine. These time evolutions are strongly affected by the contact resistivity distribution, and whether it is the first time that the NI magnet has been exposed to the AC field, showing several qualitatively different waveforms (e.g. some are even non-monotonic with time). The magnitudes of the stable central field reductions, and their observed linear correlation with the DC voltages are found to be decided by the local contact resistivity of the innermost and outermost several turns. It is also noted that the non-insulated turn-to-turn contact help lessening the loss induced by the dynamic resistance. A numerical model is established to analyze/explain these experimental results by observing the microscopic current distribution. Two risks of quench are noticed: (i) the azimuthal current of the middle part turns increases as the AC field is applied; (ii) a concentration of radial current is observed near the terminals of the NI coil.