Development on bending and torsion combined forming machine for rectangular cross-section conductor

摘要

A superconducting helical coil is a main part of fusion devices. Because the helical coil is wound on the donut shaped winding core, the superconductors must be bent and twisted into a helical shape. The helical shape is changed along the length of the conductor and in a cross-section of the coil. Then, the superconductor must be continuously formed into different 3D-shapes. Then, a new forming method that combines bending and torsion is investigated for a conductor with a rectangular cross section. The forming machine consists of 3 sets of 4 rolls whose sides touch the sides of the conductor. Combined in-plane and out-of-plane bending and torsion forming is controlled by the 3 axes of the NC controller. In the case of short conductors, the shape errors are within 10% of the maximum shape of in-plane and out-of-plane bending curvature and the torsion angle of the coil. In the present study, a 3D measuring machine was developed to measure the bending and torsion combined shapes continuously near the forming machine.