Current limiting characteristics of coated conductors with various stabilizers Original Research Article

Recently, YBCO coated conductor (CC) called as second generation (2G) wire has been developed rapidly. The CC has a stabilizer layer for protecting the wire during a quench of the wire. In resistive superconducting fault current limier (SFCL), the stabilizer makes the resistance and limits the fault current during the fault. Therefore, specification of the stabilizer is one of important design factors in SFCL. This paper describes the current limiting characteristics of three coated conductors with respect to the specifications of the stabilizer. Two samples made by American Superconductors® have copper stabilizers attached by soldering. However, the two samples have not same structures. One has one-sided stabilizer, the other has both-sided stabilizer. On the other hand, another sample made by IGC-SuperPower® has copper stabilizer attached by electroplating, and the stabilizer layer surrounds the whole cross-section of the wire. Over-current tests of the three samples with various stabilizers were performed. Each sample has 8 cm in length. From the results, the SFCL using the CC wire could be designed.