Evaluation of Electromagnetic Behavior of No-Insulation REBCO Pancake Coil With Multiple Defects

We previously developed a high-magnetic-field REBCO coil for use in medical devices such as medical accelerators and high-magnetic-field MRI. The use of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coils in such applications necessitates their miniaturization while providing high magnetic fields. However, when the current density is improved by reducing the copper-stabilization-layer thickness in the conventional insulated HTS coil, the thermal stability is lowered, which leads to a tradeoff between high current density and high thermal stability. Therefore, we examine no-insulation (NI) coils that allow compatibility between high current density and thermal stability. Recent research has indicated that NI coils with multiple defects can afford a stable and high critical current (Ic) and operate without serious problems, which makes it possible to produce coils wound with commercial REBCO tapes containing several defects along the tape, which in turn makes fabrication economically viable. However, there are many unknown aspects of the current, magnetic field, and heat behaviors of NI coils with defects, particularly when large currents flow through them. Here, in order to examine the behavior of a multiple-defect NI coil subjected to a large current at the temperature of ~30 K via application of the conduction cooling method, we use a combination of the partial element equivalent circuit method and the finite-element method to investigate the detailed current and thermal behaviors. Our results indicate that defective NI coils can afford a critical current Ic value of ~80% of that of defect-free NI coils, which makes our findings valuable in terms of contributing to further developments in HTS coil applications.