SULTAN test facility: Summary of recent results

Pierluigi Bruzzone, Giancarlo Croari, Kamil Sedlák, Boris Stepanov
Elsevier Science Sa, 2013
Journal paper

The test campaigns of the ITER conductors in the SULTAN test facility re-started in December 2011 after three months break. The main focus of the activities is about the qualification tests of the Central Solenoid (CS) conductors, with three different samples for a total six variations of strand suppliers and cable layouts. In 2012, five Toroidal Field (TF) conductor samples have also been tested as part of the supplier and process qualification phase of the European, Korean, Chinese and Russian Federation Agencies. A summary of the test results for all the ITER samples tested in the last period is presented, including an updated statistics of the broad transition, the performance degradation and the impact of layout variations. The role of SULTAN test facility during the ITER construction is reviewed, and the load of work for the next three years is anticipated. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Pierluigi Bruzzone, Giancarlo Croari, Kamil Sedlák, Boris Stepanov
Elsevier Science Sa, 2013
Journal paper

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https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/189007?ln=en

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Critical current test results of 13 T-46 kA Nb3Al cable-in-conduit conductor

Pierluigi Bruzzone

In the framework of ITER-EDA, a 13 T-46 kA Nb3Al conductor with stainless steel jacket has been developed in order to demonstrate applicability of an Nb3Al conductor with react-and-wind technique to ITER-TF coils. Using a 3.5 m sample consisting of a pair of conductors with 0% and 0.4% bending strain, the critical current performances of the Nb3Al conductors were studied to verify that the conductor achieves the expected performance and the bending strain of 0.4% does not originate degradation. The critical currents were measured at background magnetic fields of 7, 9, 10 and 11 T at temperatures from 6 to 9 K. The expected critical currents were evaluated taking into account the variation of the strain in the cross-section due to the bending strain as well as self-field and non-uniform current distribution as results of an imbalance in the joint resistance and inductances. The calculation results indicate that the current distribution is almost uniform and the experimental results showed good agreement with the expected critical currents. Accordingly, we can conclude that the fabrication process of this conductor is appropriate and the react-and-wind technique using the Nb3Al conductor is applicable to ITER-TF coils. In addition, the critical current of the Nb3Al conductor is expected to be 108 kA at 13 T and 4.5 K, resulting in a sufficient margin against the nominal current of 46 kA. Furthermore, it was found that the decrease in the critical current by thermal strain can be made small by applying the bending strain to the conductor so as to reduce the compressive strain at higher fields, i.e. inner side of the coil, in the conductor cross-section. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

2002

An evolution of the contact resistances (R-c) of two full-size ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) aimed for the Poloidal Field Conductor Insert (PFCI) was studied in the Twente Cryogenic Press. The conductors are distinguished by the presence of stainless steel wraps around the last stage sub-cables in one of the conductors. The R-c and AC loss were measured on the conductors being in the "virgin" state and after they have been loaded 40,000 times with a peak force of 315 kN/m. The test results are compared with those, obtained on sections from the same conductor lengths, in the SULTAN test facility. The consequences of the cyclic loading and the sub-cable wraps on the R-c and the coupling AC loss are discussed in view of the previously published results on full- and sub-size ITER NbTi CICCs. Special emphasis was paid to the measurements of the contact resistances between individual sub-cables and the conduit, since the knowledge of them is important for proper interpretation of the DC test results. As a final goal, the test outcome will be used as a reference for calibration of the PFCI AC loss performance.

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Test results of two ITER TF conductor short samples using high current density Nb3Sn strands

Pierluigi Bruzzone, Boris Stepanov, Rainer Wesche

Two short length samples have been prepared and tested in SULTAN to benchmark the performance of high current density, advanced Nb3Sn strands in the large cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) for ITER. The cable pattern and jacket layout were identical to the Toroidal Field Model Coil Conductor (TFMC), tested in 1999. The four conductor sections used strands from OST, EAS, OKSC and OCSI respectively. The Cu:non-Cu ratio was 1 for three of the new strands, compared to 1.5 in the TFMC strand. The conductors with OST and OKSC strands had one Cu wire for two Nb3Sn strands, as in TFMC. In the EAS and OCSI conductors, all the 1080 strands in the cable were Nb3Sn. A dc test under relevant load conditions and a thermal-hydraulic campaign was carried out in SULTAN. The CICC performance was strongly degraded compared to the strand for all the four conductors. The current sharing temperature at the ITER TF operating conditions (j(op) = 286 A/mm(2), B = 11.15 T) was lower than requested by ITER.

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In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of charge (electric current) in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are common

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ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, iter meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at cr

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A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperatu