Numerical modeling of a HTS cable

The finite element method has been employed in order to simulate the behavior of a HTS cable for transport current applications. The E-J model includes an anisotropic dependence of the critical current density J_c and power index n on the local magnetic field, whose magnitude is nonnegligible and determines the effective critical current of the cable. The cable consists of four electrically insulated layers, each of them composed by 20 superconducting tapes, providing a total critical current of about 4 kA. In order to obtain a uniform repartition of the current among the layers, a sufficiently high contact resistance has been inserted in the electric circuit. The ac losses and the field distribution have been computed. A comparison is also made with a simple electric model of a HTS cable.