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Superconducting Materials for Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 23 November 2024 | Viewed by 21003

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Superconducting Materials Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology 3‐7‐5 Toyosu, Koto‐ku, Tokyo, Japan
Interests: magnetic materials; ceramics (ferrites and manganites); magnetic imaging; magnetic characterization
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Guest Editor
Group of Research in Electrical Engineering of Nancy (GREEN), University of Lorraine, Nancy, France
Interests: electric characterization of superconducting tapes; magnetic characterization of superconducting bulks; AC losses in superconductor; power electronic

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Guest Editor
GREEN, Université de Lorraine, F-54000 Nancy, France
Interests: high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables for railway network; magnetization and characterization of HTS bulks; pulsed magnetization; multiphysics modeling; design of electrical engineering applications using HTS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Group of Research in Electrical Engineering of Nancy (GREEN), University of Lorraine, Nancy, France
Interests: superconducting fault current limiter; superconducting motor and generator; superconducting modulization and characterization

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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
Interests: electrical, magnetic and thermal measurements; characterization of bulks and tapes; flux trapping; magnetic shielding; AC losses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High-temperature superconductor (HTSc) materials have left the prototype-development stage and are now approaching different types of applications in the real world. Three basic types of superconductor materials are currently produced: thin films for electronic applications, coated conductors (tapes) mainly for power applications, and bulk materials for field trapping or screening. All of these material types are still not matured, as for each type, there are several different material classes to be considered, each with quite specific parameters (transition temperature Tc, critical current density, Jc, and irreversibility fields, Hirr). Therefore, for a given application, there are several possible solutions which clearly depend on the best fit of the material’s properties to the application demands. After this decision is made, the involved material costs and the costs of the required cooling apparatus are then decisive.

The development of superconducting applications is also driven by the current environmental challenges (e.g., for all-electric aircrafts) and by political demands to become independent of short resources like rare-earth materials (e.g., the development of superconducting supermagnets).

Therefore, there are many demands on the material development, the solution of which demands interdisciplinary developments and the use of the most modern material characterization tools to enable the applications of HTSc materials in daily life.

This Special Issue therefore aims to present several new applications of HTSc materials, the specific material processing required for a given application and new analysis methods applied in the HTSc research.

Prof. Dr. Michael R. Koblischka
Prof. Dr. Douine Bruno
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kévin Berger
Prof. Dr. Leveque Jean
Prof. Dr. Philippe Vanderbemden
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • high-temperature superconductor (HTSc) materials
  • thin films for electronic applications
  • coated conductors
  • bulk materials for field trapping or screening

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3821 KiB  
Article
Microstructural Parameters for Modelling of Superconducting Foams
by Michael Rudolf Koblischka, Anjela Koblischka-Veneva, Quentin Nouailhetas, Ghazi Hajiri, Kévin Berger, Bruno Douine and Denis Gokhfeld
Materials 2022, 15(6), 2303; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15062303 - 20 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2363
Abstract
Superconducting YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) foams were prepared using commercial open-cell, polyurethane foams as starting material to form ceramic Y2BaCuO5 foams which are then converted into superconducting YBCO by using the infiltration growth process. For modelling the [...] Read more.
Superconducting YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) foams were prepared using commercial open-cell, polyurethane foams as starting material to form ceramic Y2BaCuO5 foams which are then converted into superconducting YBCO by using the infiltration growth process. For modelling the superconducting and mechanical properties of the foam samples, a Kelvin-type cell may be employed as a first approach as reported in the literature for pure polyurethane foams. The results of a first modelling attempt in this direction are presented concerning an estimation of the possible trapped fields (TFs) and are compared to experimental results at 77 K. This simple modelling revealed already useful information concerning the best suited foam structure to realize large TF values, but it also became obvious that for various other parameters like magnetostriction, mechanical strength, percolative current flow and the details of the TF distribution, a refined model of a superconducting foam sample incorporating the real sample structure must be considered. Thus, a proper description of the specific microstructure of the superconducting YBCO foams is required. To obtain a set of reliable data, YBCO foam samples were investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). A variety of parameters including the size and shape of the cells and windows, the length and shape of the foam struts or ligaments and the respective intersection angles were determined to better describe the real foam structure. The investigation of the foam microstructures revealed not only the differences to the original polymer foams used as base material, but also provided further insights to the infiltration growth process via the large amount of internal surface in a foam sample. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superconducting Materials for Applications)
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16 pages, 31844 KiB  
Article
Design Development and Analysis of a Partially Superconducting Axial Flux Motor Using YBCO Bulks
by Brahim Chelarem Douma, Bilal Abderezzak, Elhadj Ailam, Raluca-Andreea Felseghi, Constantin Filote, Catalin Dumitrescu and Maria Simona Raboaca
Materials 2021, 14(15), 4295; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14154295 - 31 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3310
Abstract
In this work, authors have designed, constructed and tested a new kind of partially superconducting axial flux machine. This model is based on the magnetic flux concentration principle. The magnetic field creation part consists of the NbTi superconducting solenoid and two YBaCuO plates. [...] Read more.
In this work, authors have designed, constructed and tested a new kind of partially superconducting axial flux machine. This model is based on the magnetic flux concentration principle. The magnetic field creation part consists of the NbTi superconducting solenoid and two YBaCuO plates. A theoretical study is conducted of an extrapolated superconducting inductor for low-temperature superconducting and high-temperature superconducting solenoids. The optimization of the inductor is carried out in order to increase the torque and the power density as well. This improvement is done by changing the shape of the elements which form the superconducting inductor. Finally, a prototype is realized, and tested. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superconducting Materials for Applications)
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18 pages, 10233 KiB  
Article
Review on the Use of Superconducting Bulks for Magnetic Screening in Electrical Machines for Aircraft Applications
by Rémi Dorget, Quentin Nouailhetas, Alexandre Colle, Kévin Berger, Kimiaki Sudo, Sabrina Ayat, Jean Lévêque, Michael Rudolf Koblischka, Naomichi Sakai, Tetsuo Oka and Bruno Douine
Materials 2021, 14(11), 2847; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14112847 - 26 May 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4848
Abstract
High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) considerably accelerate the development of superconducting machines for electrical engineering applications such as fully electrical aircraft. This present contribution is an overview of different superconducting materials that can be used as magnetic screens for the inductor of high specific power [...] Read more.
High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) considerably accelerate the development of superconducting machines for electrical engineering applications such as fully electrical aircraft. This present contribution is an overview of different superconducting materials that can be used as magnetic screens for the inductor of high specific power electrical machines. The impact of the material properties, such as the critical temperature (Tc) and the critical current density (Jc), on the machine performances is evaluated. In addition, the relevance to flux modulation machines of different HTS bulk synthesis methods are addressed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superconducting Materials for Applications)
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35 pages, 4238 KiB  
Article
Essential Material Knowledge and Recent Model Developments for REBCO-Coated Conductors in Electric Power Systems
by Frederic Trillaud, Gabriel dos Santos and Guilherme Gonçalves Sotelo
Materials 2021, 14(8), 1892; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14081892 - 10 Apr 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4400
Abstract
The manufacturing of commercial REBCO tapes, REBCO referring to Rare-earth barium copper oxide, has matured enough to lead to a variety of applications ranging from scientific instruments to electric power systems. In particular, its large current density with a high n index and [...] Read more.
The manufacturing of commercial REBCO tapes, REBCO referring to Rare-earth barium copper oxide, has matured enough to lead to a variety of applications ranging from scientific instruments to electric power systems. In particular, its large current density with a high n index and low hysteresis losses make it a strong candidate for specific applications relying on the dependence of its resistance on current. Despite its advantages, there are still issues that remain to be addressed, such as the scarcity of experimental data for the basic characteristics of the superconductor over a wide range of temperature and applied magnetic field, the inhomogeneity of these characteristics along the conductor length, as well as the anisotropy of the critical current and n index with respect to the direction of the applied magnetic field. To better utilize the technology, it is therefore sensible to understand the relevancy of these issues so that one could simulate as accurately as possible the physics of the superconductor, at least the dynamics that may impact the correct operation of the superconducting device. There are different levels of modelling to achieve such a goal that can either focus on the performance of the superconductor itself, or on the whole device. The present work addresses some of the latest developments in the modelling of commercial REBCO tapes in power systems with a particular focus on the thermoelectric behavior of superconducting devices connected to external circuits. Two very different approaches corresponding to two different scales in the modelling of superconducting devices are presented: (1) analysis using equivalent models and lumped parameters to study the thermoelectric response of superconducting devices as a whole, (2) Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to compute distributed fields such as current density, magnetic flux density and local losses in tapes. In this context, this paper reviews both approaches and gives a broad variety of examples to show their practical applications in electric power systems. Firstly, they show the relevance of the technology in power systems engineering. Secondly, they allow inferring the necessary level of model details to optimize the operation of superconducting power devices in power grids. This level of details relies completely on the knowledge of some basic measurable properties of superconducting tapes (critical current and n index) and their cooling conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superconducting Materials for Applications)
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Review

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12 pages, 4783 KiB  
Review
Characterization of High-Temperature Superconductor Bulks for Electrical Machine Application
by Bruno Douine, Kevin Berger and Nickolay Ivanov
Materials 2021, 14(7), 1636; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14071636 - 26 Mar 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3284
Abstract
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) bulks can be used in electrical applications. Experimental characterization of large-size HTS bulks is a tricky issue. The relevant parameters for their application were directly measured in this study. This paper has three main aims. Firstly, features of YBaCuO bulks [...] Read more.
High-temperature superconducting (HTS) bulks can be used in electrical applications. Experimental characterization of large-size HTS bulks is a tricky issue. The relevant parameters for their application were directly measured in this study. This paper has three main aims. Firstly, features of YBaCuO bulks are presented. Secondly, an electrical motor application is developed using magnetic field shielding and trapping. Thirdly, the HTS bulks are characterized. Several classical methods were used, which are mainly magnetic methods only available for small samples. The complete penetration magnetic field and the critical current density were found to be the main parameters relevant for applications. An innovative entire HTS bulk characterization method is presented. This characterization method is useful for end users and engineers to better implement HTS bulks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superconducting Materials for Applications)
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