A Method for Measuring AC Critical Current of HTS Coil Based on Thermal Stability

At present, superconducting power technology has been applied more and more in the ac field, such as ac superconducting current limiter, ac superconducting cable, and so on. Critical current is the key parameter in the design, manufacture, and operation process of superconducting devices, but few studies were carried out on the ac critical current of superconductors now. In this article, a method for measuring the ac critic al current of the HTS coil based on the thermal stability was proposed, the ac critical current measurement experiment of the superconducting coil is carried out, and the electromagnetic–thermal coupling model is built to analyze the quench principle of the superconducting coil. This article explains the principle of ac critical current from the balance of heating and cooling and gives the rule that the value of ac critical current changes with frequency.