Preparation of in-situ Nb3Sn-Cu wire by consumable arc melting

Procedures have been developed for casting 10 cm diameter Cu-Nb ingots and for fabricating these castings into Nb3Sn-Cu in-situ wire. Operating conditions which produce consumable arc cast ingots homogeneous to 1.5 wt % Nb are presented along with analyses of macro-segregation, carbon pickup and Nb dendrite size. Carbon impurity level is found to be an important parameter which controls the critical current.