Mechanical Effects of the Nonuniform Current Distribution on HTS Coils for Accelerators Wound With REBCO Roebel Cable

Future high-energy accelerators will need very high magnetic fields in the range of 20 T. The EuCARD-2 WP10 Future Magnets collaboration is aiming at testing HTS-based Roebel cables in an accelerator magnet. The demonstrator should produce around 17 T, when inserted into the 100-mm aperture of Feather-M2 13-T outsert magnet. HTS Roebel cables are assembled from meander-shaped REBCO-coated conductor tapes. In comparison with fair level of uniformity of current distribution in cables made out of round Nb-Ti or Nb3Sn strands, current distribution within the coils wound from Roebel cables is highly nonhomogeneous. It results in nonuniform electromagnetic force distribution over the cable that could damage the very thin REBCO superconducting layer. This paper focuses on the numerical models to describe the effect of the nonhomogeneous current distribution on stress distribution in the demonstrator magnet designed for the EuCARD-2 project. Preliminary results indicate that the impregnation bonding between the cable glass fiber insulation and layer-to-layer insulation plays a significant role in the pressure distribution at the cable edges. The stress levels are safe for Roebel cables. Assuming fully bonded connection at the interface, the stresses around the edges are reduced by a large factor.