Uniform current distribution conductor of HTS power cable with variable tape-winding pitches

Abstract

In the multilayer conductor, the inner layers have higher impedance than the outer layers. As a result, the current concentrates in the outer layers. Our early study showed that its AC losses were reduced to one-tenth by making the current of each layer uniform. From such a point of view, a trial to realize the uniform current distribution was made by adjusting the winding pitches of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes layer by layer. A 1 m long conductor was fabricated, where the inner layer had longer winding pitch than the outer layer. Experimental results showed that the currents flowing in individual layers were almost the same and that this conductor had lower AC losses than the nonuniform current distribution conductor.