Re-Makeable Joint With Insulation for REBCO Superconductor Cables

Composite Technology Development, Inc., in partnership with the Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) at MIT, recently developed and demonstrated a re-makeable, insulated high temperature superconductor (HTS) cable joint for a Twisted Stacked-Tape Cable. The prototype joint exhibited low tape-to-tape resistances (∼400 nΩ) with critical current through the joint for most tape pairs matching that of the as-supplied conductor tape ( I c = 142 A). The best performing insulation scheme showed dielectric withstand voltage in excess of 10 kV. Disassembly and reassembly of the joint showed no degradation in performance.