Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

The Warner & Swasey Company

Warren C Young

Roger W Boom

Harold A Peterson

Yehia M Eyssa

Glen E McIntosh

Mostafa K Abdelsalam

Ronald W Moses, Jr

A superconducting energy storage magnet is formed having inner (13) and outer (14) coils which are supported and restrained by an inner support structure (15) comprised of thermal and electrically conductive rails (33) which engage and parallel the turns of composite conductors (30, 31) in the two coils. Each of the support rails (33) is electrically isolated from adjacent support rails by insulating spacers (33) between layers and an insulating spacer (35) between the rails for the inner and outer coils. The spacing between turns in the inner and outer coils preferably progressively decreases toward the top and bottom ends of the magnet in a manner to best direct the magnetically induced forces on the composite conductors (30, 31) into the inner support structure. The two layer coil structure causes the forces on the conductors when current is flowing therethrough to be directed primarily inwardly toward the inner support structure (15).

Superconducting energy storage magnet

An improved boom section has top and bottom walls formed of sloping plate sections or flanges which define peaks between the side walls. The peaked configuration of the bottom wall increases the buckling strength of the bottom wall over the bucking strength obtained with a flat bottom wall. The sloping flanges of the top and bottom walls are disposed at acute angles of between 12.degree. and 19.degree. to horizontal planes. If the slope of the flanges is increased to an angle significantly greater than 19.degree., the peaks in the top and bottom walls would be disposed relatively far from the central axis of the boom section and would be subjected to excessive stresses upon loading of the boom section. The boom section is advantageously formed with a height-to-width ratio which is greater than 1 and less than 3. Lateral stability of the boom section is promoted by having slider pad forces applied to the bottom wall of the boom section intersect at a point above the center of the boom section and having slider pad forces applied to the top wall of the boom section intersect at a point below the center of the boom section. To facilitate slider pad replacement, access openings are provided in the top walls of the boom sections. The slider pads advantageously move along stainless steel strips on the walls of the boom sections.

Boom assembly

An inductor device having a superconducting coil winding capable of maintaining a relatively large current flowing therethrough, and a normal conducting shield winding surrounding the superconducting coil. The superconducting coil and the shield are electrically connected in parallel with the shield functioning to maintain the current and the magnetic field in the superconducting coil substantially constant. The superconducting inductor device can be used to store energy and to return the stored energy to an energy consuming load over a relatively short period without incurring large losses in the superconducting material. This result is obtained by making the self inductance of the shield substantially equal to the mutual inductance between the shield and the superconducting coil, or by inserting a controlled compensating voltage source in series with the shield, so that pulse currents are conducted by the shield. Proper spacing of the shield windings around the superconducting coil will result in substantially no magnetic field present in the coil due to current in the shield.

Shielded superconducting inductor device

An electrical magnet having at least one turn of electrical conductor which is continuously rippled in small radius arcs around is larger circumference. Each ripple in the conductor is formed to lie in a plane normal to the net magnetic field experienced by that ripple. For the special case of a planar turn of conductor, the ripples lie in substantially the same plane as the conductor turn itself. When current is flowing in the rippled conductor, the conductor will experience a magnetically induced force directed outward normal to the conductor. To oppose this outwardly directed force, the conductor is provided support by means which engage the conductor at the inner portions of the conductor between the ripples therein. The support means may consist of members or columns extending to a solid circular wall as, for example, a wall formed in bedrock. The tensile load in the rippled conductor is much less than in an unsupported large radius circular conductor, and, in addition, the rippled conductor is capable of undergoing expansions and contractions without building up damaging strain levels in the conductor. A superconducting rippled conductor magnet may be thermally insulated from warm support structure by thermal shields and vacuum dewars which are also rippled.

Growing community of inventors

Madison, WI, United States of America

Warren C Young