Measurement and Analysis of Critical Current of 100-kA Class Simply-Stacked HTS Conductors

Based on the successful plasma experiments in the Large Helical Device (LHD), design activities of the LHD-type helical fusion reactor FFHR-d1 are progressing at National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS). A 100 kA current capacity is required for the winding conductor under the maximum magnetic field of ~12 T. The high-temperature superconductor (HTS) is a promising option for the helical coil conductor. For the development of such a HTS conductor suitable for the helical fusion reactor, we fabricated 30 kA-class HTS conductor samples, and the excitation tests were successfully carried out. We then fabricated and tested a 100-kA class HTS conductor. The conductor sample is a one-turn short-circuit coil with a race-track shape having a bridge-type mechanical lap joint. The transport current of the sample was induced by changing the external magnetic field, then the critical current of the sample was measured. A numerical analysis of the critical current is being performed by self-consistently solving the spatial distributions of the current density and magnetic field among the simply-stacked HTS tapes to verify the measured critical current of the samples. The critical current characteristics of a single HTS tape is evaluated by the percolation model in the precise analysis.