Numerical Modeling Of Thin Superconducting Tapes

F. Grilli[1], F. Sirois[2], and R. Brambilla[3]
[1]Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
[2]Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
[3]ERSE SpA, Milan, Italy
发布日期 2010

Second-generation high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes are very promising superconductors for ac applications and numerical models are very important for predicting their performance, e.g. for computing the ac losses. These tapes are characterized by a very large aspect ratio: the width of the superconducting film is typically between 4 and 12 mm, whereas its thickness is in the micrometer range. This means that particular care has to be taken for choosing a mesh that produces accurate results, yet keeping the number of degrees of freedom of the problem at a reasonable level. In this paper, we discuss different solutions for having a fast and reliable numerical model. Different mesh types are utilized - in particular triangular and quadrangular edge elements. Several mesh densities are considered using COMSOL. Simulated cases are not restricted to only to single tapes, but also include more complex tape arrangements, as for example Roebel cables. Results are compared with analytical ones and with experiments.