Modeling of a Distributed Constant Electric Circuit considering Contact Resistance and Coupling Loss Analyses for Cable Twisted at Multiple Stages

Abstract

AC losses in multi-strand superconducting cables, utilized in large-scale applications such as fusion machines, are governed by the contact resistance between strands. Especially, in cable twisted at multiple-stages, a variety of magnetic field diffusion time constants exist and these correspond to the quantity of inter-strand coupling loss in each cabling stage. The rate of magnetic field change is less than several T/s in an average fusion machine. Under this condition, the magnetic field penetrates the cable well and the coupling current circuit with the larger time constant causes larger AC loss. Here, the time constant is equal to the leakage inductance divided by the resistance along the coupling current loop. Therefore, by evaluating the coupling current in the larger loop, which consists of a higher twisting stage (e.g., usually the final cabling stage), the loss in the entire cable can be determined. The leakage inductance between sub-cables can be estimated by considering the electrical centers. On the other hand, inter-sub-cable contact resistance was not previously evaluated due to its complexity. In this study, we established an inter-sub-cable contact resistance model that allows the AC loss in cable with multiple twisting stages to be evaluated numerically. The modeling of contact resistance between sub-cables is discussed in detail.