Superconducting Levitation Using Coated Conductors

The second-generation (2G) YBCO wire has been used for several applications, such as electric power transmission and distribution cables, fault current limiters, MagLev vehicles, electric machines, high field magnets, superconducting magnetic energy storage, etc. The main advantages of 2G wires are: high critical current density values, large scale production, lower manufacturing cost than first generation, and superior performance under high magnetic fields. This work presents a preliminary study of superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB) using 2G wires as passive levitators. A superconducting block using stacked 2G wires was built to evaluate the behavior of coated conductors in the SMB application. The levitation and lateral force between the 2G block and a permanent magnet guideway was measured and compared with the results for an YBCO bulk with approximately the same dimensions. The results indicate that 2G wires have potential for applications with superconducting levitation, but its economic feasibility still depends on the coated conductors price decreasing.