High-Current Stacked HTS Conductors With Non-uniform Gaps: Critical Current, AC Loss, and Fault Tolerance

In this article, a novel non-uniform gap optimization method was proposed for high-current stacked HTS conductors. The proposed configuration was easy for fabrication, but also resulted in good electromagnetic performance. The experiment matched the modeling regarding the critical currents of different stacked HTS conductors, and they presented the optimal critical currents was by the non-uniform gap optimization. After proving the reliability of modeling, the zero gap and non-uniform gap stacked conductors with 15 HTS tapes were comprehensively evaluated with respect to the critical current, AC loss, and fault tolerance. Compared with zero gap stacked HTS conductor, the critical current of the stacked HTS conductor by the non-uniform gap optimization increased by 5%, while the AC loss was reduced by 30%, and the temperature rise due to fault was reduced by 50%. Overall, the stacked HTS conductors with novel non-uniform gap optimization can carry reasonably high currents, with less loss and better fault tolerance.