Design and prototype testing of a contactless HTS cable measurement system

Abstract By combining multiple high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes into cables and then fabricating them into devices such as power cable and magnets, the system operating current can be effectively increased and manufacturing process difficulties can be reduced. To improve system reliability, it is necessary to conduct quality inspections on cables before assembly. In this paper, a non-contact cable measurement method utilizing the screen current effect is proposed. The distribution characteristics of screen current in CORC cables under dynamic excitation magnetic fields, as well as the magnetic field characteristics produced in space, were analyzed through simulation by J model. It was found that the cable can be effectively measured by combining two sets of excitation magnets and sensor arrays. Subsequently, a prototype was established, and CORC samples with artificially created defects were measured. The experiments confirmed the feasibility of this method.