University of Houston System

Devamanohar Ponnusamy

Kamel Salama

Krishnaswamy Ravi-Chandar

The fabrication of superconducting wires and rods having desired and consistent electrical and mechanical properties, in particular those based on Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO) and Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide (BSCCO), is disclosed. The first fabrication step is to form an extrudable paste by mixing YBCO or BSCCO superconducting powder with a set of organic additives, which include binder, plasticizer, lubricant, dispersant, and a solvent. The following additional steps are performed on both YBCO and BSCCO based wires or rods: (i) using a piston extruder to extrude the superconducting wire or rod; (ii) drying the wire or rod to remove the solvent; and (iii) subjecting the wire or rod to a binder burn-out treatment to remove the remaining organic additives. In addition, YBCO wires and rods also require a sintering step, while BSCCO wires and rods also require cold isostatic pressing and heat treatment steps. The formation of cracks in thicker YBCO and BSCCO based rods during the drying and heating process steps is avoided by extruding hollow rods. The additives, processing parameters, and processing stages used to fabricate the superconducting wires and rods help achieve desired and consistent electrical and mechanical properties.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Devamanohar Ponnusamy