Mechanical Requirements for Superconducting Tapes in HTS Power Cable Applications

While the electrical design requirements and characteristics for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes for power cable applications are well established and widely known, the mechanical loads the tapes are subjected to during cable manufacture and handling have not received the same attention. In this paper we give an overview over the mechanical loads and failure modes that HTS tapes are subjected to when they are cabled into a HTS power cable. We also point out which parameters of the mechanical design of the HTS tapes significantly influence their behavior when being cabled.