New model to study the influence of cabling pattern, magnet field profile and joint properties on short sample qualification tests of ITER CICCs

摘要

Conclusions of short sample tests on ITER Nb_3Sn CICCs, in particular regarding the current sharing temperature, may be affected by the test layout and the quality of electrical connections. Therefore, we developed a novel numerical model "JackPot" that predicts the measured voltage tap signals from such samples for any given temperature and source current. A key feature of the model is that the magnetic field profile on the superconducting strands and the resistances between strands all depend on the accurately calculated strand trajectories within the cable sample, which gives them a realistic distribution. It is demonstrated that the peculiarities of short sample test can indeed significantly influence the assessment of cable performance.