Experimental Study on the Performance Change of YBCO Tapes Under Repeated Overcurrent

Superconducting cables or fault current limiters may encounter short-circuit currents during operation. When experiencing multiple overcurrent cycles, the critical current degradation of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) tapes may occur. The performance degradation of YBCO tapes under overcurrent is a gradual process. It may take dozens or hundreds of overcurrent or overheating pulses. To get a better understanding of this process, we explored the performance change of YBCO tapes under repeated overcurrent. A life characteristics test platform was established. The electromagnetic performance degradation of YBCO tape under 50 Hz sinusoidal ac operating conditions was investigated, taking the effect of the overcurrent amplitude and duration into account. Meanwhile, the relationship between the number of overcurrent cycles and the I
_c
degradation is proposed. The reason for this performance change is analyzed by comparing the 2-D current density distribution of the YBCO film before and after experiencing overcurrent. In addition, the U-I property and resistance variations of these tapes are presented. It is inferred that the cracking of the superconducting layer is the main cause of I
_c
degradation. The experimental results provide meaningful references for the performance degradation of the YBCO tapes and related devices.