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Scaling relations describing the electromagnetic behaviour of coated conductors (CCs) greatly simplify the design of REBCO-based devices. The performance of REBCO CCs is strongly influenced by fabrication route, conductor architecture and materials, and these parameters vary from one manufacturer to the others. In the present work we have examined the critical surface for the current density, Jc(T,B,), of coated conductors from six different manufacturers: American Superconductor Co. (US), Bruker HTS GmbH (Germany), Fujikura Ltd. (Japan), SuNAM Co. Ltd. (Korea), SuperOx ZAO (Russia) and SuperPower Inc. (US). Electrical transport and magnetic measurements were performed at temperatures between 4.2 K and 77 K and in magnetic field up to 19 T.Experiments were conducted at three different orientations of the field with respect to the crystallographic c-axis of the REBCO layer, θ = 0°, 45° and 90°, in order to probe the angular anisotropy of Jc. In spite of the large variability of CCs' performance, we show here that field and temperature dependences of Jc at a given angle can be reproduced over wide ranges using a scaling relation based only on three parameters. Furthermore, we present and validate a new approach combining magnetic and transport measurements for the determination of the scaling parameters with minimal experimental effort.

Single-core MgB2 composite wires have been made by the powder-in-tube method using commercial Mg, B and MgB2 powders (Alfa Aesar) in Fe, Nb and Ta tubes and both in situ and ex situ processes. Prepared wires were subjected to annealing at temperatures ranging from 600 °C up to 950 °C for 30 min in argon atmosphere. Resistive (R(T)) and transport current (Ic(μ0H)) measurements have shown how the sheath material that was used influences the critical temperature and critical current density. Inter-diffusion and reaction has been observed only for the iron sheath. Niobium has appeared as the best sheath material for MgB2 wires made by the in situ process but as the worst sheath material for the ex situ method. The reason is mainly due to the large transversal cracks generated in the fully Nb sheathed ex situ wires during the deformation, which are not healed by the subsequent heat treatment.

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In order to allow precise and detailed physical studies of an MgB2 filament made by the internal magnesium diffusion process (IMD), a modified approach (MIMD) using a Mg tube filled with boron powder deformed into wire was introduced. The MIMD process allows easy extraction of the MgB2 filament after the final heat treatment and performance of four-probe resistive measurements and density estimation, which is not possible for standard IMD wires. The Rowell approach has been applied for the grain connectivity from R(T) data of extracted MgB2 for the first time. The filament’s density has been estimated from the precise volume measured by x-ray micro-tomography and mass. The high connectivity and density of the MgB2 filament made by the diffusion process are discussed and compared with those of filaments made by other processes.

Two types of Rutherford cables made of two strand layers of commercial MgB2 wires manufactured by Hyper Tech Research, Inc. have been made. Flat rectangular cables consisting of 12 single-core MgB2/Nb/Cu10Ni, or 6-filaments MgB2/Nb/Cu strands, both of diameter 390 mewm, were assembled using a back-twist cabling machine with transposition length of 20 mm. In order to analyze impact of the cable compaction on critical currents, cables were two-axially rolled, each by a single step reduction of 3.5%−29.7% to thickness range of 0.775−0.62 mm. It was found that by increasing the packing factor (PF) of cable above 0.79, the critical current begins to increase. It is improved nearly two times up to the PF limit 0.89. Compaction over the PF limit introduced cable degradation and decrease of critical current. Bending tests applied to cables showed that critical current degradation starts below the bending diameter 120 mm for 6-filaments Cu sheath and 70 mm for single-core Cu10Ni sheath cable. Tensile tests showed similar irreversible strain values for the both types of cables. Rutherford cables assembled of single-core strands are promising for low field (2.7−4 T) applications where low bending diameters are required.

This work describes the strain tolerance of MgB2 superconductors subjected to variable bending stresses. Bending of MgB2 wire was done at room temperature in different modes: (i) direct bending of straight annealed samples to variable diameters and by (ii) indirect bending by straightening of bent and annealed samples. Ic–bending strain characteristics of samples made by in situ PIT and by the internal magnesium diffusion (IMD) process were measured at 4.2 K. The results show a good agreement between the direct and indirect bending mode, which allows easier estimation of limits important for the winding process of MgB2 superconductors with brittle filaments. A comparison of MgB2 wires made by in situ PIT and IMD processes showed improved strain tolerance for IMD due to better grain connectivity the low annealing temperature, which does not appear to reduce the mechanical strength of sheath material.

Different boron powders were used for MgB 2 wires manufactured by internal magnesium diffusion. The structure of the MgB 2 core, critical temperature and critical currents of Cu/Ti sheathed wires differing only in boron powder were analyzed and compared. It was found that the particle size and purity of boron powders influence the creation of the MgB 2 phase and, consequently, also considerably influence its superconducting properties. The highest critical current density in the low external field was measured for wire with a boron purity of 98.5% produced by Pavezyum. It was used also for stabilized multi-core MgB 2 wire with high engineering current densities in low magnetic fields at 20 K, which may be attractive for some low field applications, e.g. high-power wind generators.