Eddy Current and Loss of Graded-Resistance No-Insulation Coils in HTS Synchronous Machines of Electrical Aircraft

The No-insulation (NI) high temperature superconductor (HTS) machine is a promising propulsion technique for future large-scale electrical aircraft because of its high power density and enhanced thermal stability. However, in the machine environment, the ripple magnetic fields can induce significant eddy currents and losses on the NI coil. A grading turn-to-turn resistivity technique has been proposed to solve this problem, in which higher turn-to-turn resistivity is applied on the outermost turns of the NI coil, and lower turn-to-turn resistivity is kept on middle turns. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of grading turn-to-turn resistivity technique on the eddy current and loss of both single and multiple NI HTS coils exposed to ripple fields. To investigate the electromagnetic behavior and loss mechanism of NI HTS coils, a simulation model is proposed that couples the equivalent circuit model and finite element model. Results show that the grading turn-to-turn resistivity can effectively reduce the induced eddy current and lead to a uniform distribution of eddy current among turns of both single and multiple windings. It reduces magnetization loss in superconducting layers but increases the turn-to-turn loss on the radial contacts. These results are useful for the development of NI HTS machines with high thermal stability.