Development of an aluminium stabilised reinforced superconducting conductor

For high performance superconducting magnets as used in large detectors for the high energy physics or for magnets of magnetic storage devices (SMES), the mechanical stresses on the conductor go beyond the yield stress level of the high purity matrix stabiliser, specially if aluminium is used. Therefore, a novel method is proposed to join high strength aluminium strips to high purity aluminium stabiliser by using the electron beam (EB) welding. The proposed EB-welding, combined with roll-pressing under vacuum, provides the minimum heat input on the conductor in comparison with other welding techniques. This method provides the advantage to allow the production of very long conductor lengths and includes the potentiality of repairing without losing expensive material. As this process has to be adapted to the high purity aluminium on the one side and to the high strength material on the other, we started in a first step with investigation and development of the process, using standard laboratory machines together with laboratory-size tooling. In this report the development programme is described and first results of the quality control measurements are presented.