Joining superconductive wires by magnetic welding to form a superconducting joint

摘要

A method of electrically joining superconducting wires comprises: stripping matrix material from the wires to expose superconducting filaments 16; placing the filaments 16 between electrically conductive pieces 10, 14 and apply magnetic welding to the electrically conductive pieces 10, 14. This forms a superconducting joint wherein the filaments 16 are cold welded with molecular bonds between each other and between the filaments 16 and the two electrically conductive pieces 10, 14. One of the electrically conductive pieces may be an electrically conductive cup or tube 10 with at least one open end 17 and the other electrically conductive piece may be an insert 14, wherein the magnetic welding step drives the insert 14 into the cup/tube 10 with the filaments 16 positioned between the insert 14 and the cup/tube 10. Before the welding step, the filaments 16 may be wrapped around the insert 14 or formed into a loop and placed within the cup/tube 10 or wrapped over the tapered end 15 of the insert 14. The tapered end 15 of the insert 14 may then be aligned with open end 17 of the cup/tube 10 in preparation for the magnetic welding step.