The effects of superconductor-stabilizer interfacial resistance on quench of a pancake coil made out of coated conductor

TL;DR

This study uses numerical analysis to explore how increasing interfacial resistance in coated superconductor pancake coils affects quench behavior, potentially improving early detection and stability for high-temperature magnet applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates that higher contact resistance enhances normal zone propagation speed and early detection, offering a new approach to improve quench protection in coated conductors.

Findings

Increased contact resistance speeds up normal zone propagation.

Higher resistance allows earlier detection of quenches.

Stability margins decrease with increased contact resistance.

Abstract

We present the results of numerical analysis of normal zone propagation in a stack of $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-x}$ coated conductors which imitates a pancake coil. Our main purpose is to determine whether the quench protection quality of such coils can be substantially improved by increased contact resistance between the superconducting film and the stabilizer. We show that with increased contact resistance the speed of normal zone propagation increases, the detection of a normal zone inside the coil becomes possible earlier, when the peak temperature inside the normal zone is lower, and stability margins shrink. Thus, increasing contact resistance may become a viable option for improving the prospects of coated conductors for high $T_c$ magnets applications.