Further development of aluminum clad superconductors

A high-volume fabrication technique has been developed to clad conventional NbTi/Cu composite conductors with high-purity aluminum. A variety of sizes and shapes of practical superconductors has been clad using aluminum of initial residual resistance ratios ranging from 200 to 3000. In some of the conductor configurations a strengthening element in the form of a stainless steel wire or an aluminum alloy has been incorporated. The various conductor types investigated and their mechanical and electrical characteristics are presented. The advanced conductors developed will be particularly suitable for large magnet applications such as high-energy physics particle detectors, high-field MRI, and magnetic energy storage.