PPPL2507 FORCE-FREE COIL PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTINC MATERIALS H.P. Furth, S.C.

Jardin, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton, New Jersey and D.B. Montgomery Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Fusion Center Cambridge, Massachusetts 02319 08544 DE88 009343

ABSTRACT

Force-free parallel to

magnetic-field

configurations,

where

the

current

flows the

the magnetic field

field vector, have and current-density

the potential limits for

to raise

critical, magnetic superconductors.

high-temperature

WtM
DISTRIBUTION OF JfSS ES3H3EKT R UHUKITH

In a force-free magnetic-field configuration, along the magnetic A simple field (J = J ..), so that

the current density flows the Lorentz force 3 x 5

vanishes. Fig. 1.

illustration

is provided

by the force-free
z

cable of on the

The helical winding pattern generates a B ~field

component

interior of the cable, thus permitting 1 to flow parallel to B, instead of perpendicular to 5, as would field be the case in a conventional for force-free and cable. The

exterior magnetic

( B Q ) is the same
z >

conventional

cables carrying the same total current I Force-free important cables and coils*

have

two

advantages

that

should

be

in superconductor applications

involving high magnetic

fields and

current densities:

(1) the vanishing of the overall Lorentz force exerted on

the conductor greatly relaxes the conditions on the mechanical strength of the material; (2) the vanishing of the Lorentz is favorable force on the current-carrying of higher

electrons within

the conductor

to the achievement

critical current densities J _ _ . , . than are likely to be reached with currents i crit ' flowing perpendicular to the magnetic field (J - _ : . . ) In the case of conventional hard
c r

superconductors, and J
c r

58 *i

where comparative
n a s J

measurements have been made for J . . typically

it'

ncrit

larger by an order of magnitude. superconductors, anisotropics

In the case of the new highcurrent density have

temperature

in critical

been reported for different orientations of 6 relative to the crystal planes of the sample '
7

but these measurements were made

by inducing

closed
c r

current loops within the sample and, therefore, they refer ocly to J (The measured J
c r

it'

jr

o r

current loop closed within the favorable crystal

plane has been found to be higher than the J passes in and out of the favorable plane.) method is not applicable: one must

r a current loop that

To measure J.

;
t

the inductive current

pass an externally

generated

through the sample, in the direction along 5, and measure the voltage drop within the sample. The advantages of force-free configurations are partly off-set by their greater geometric complexity, and especially by the need for a helical winding pattern, as illustrated in Fig. 1. force-free B J. _ :
c t

To estimate the potential-benefit of the write in r * J.

design

approach, (as was

we

i /J,
t

c r

and

assume field

* const,
t

found

Ref. 5 ) , up

to

some

critical

- , where J . .
t

drops to zero.

In the simple geometry of Fig. i, the

force-free condition is expressed by

dB /dr + Bg/r dCrB J/dr = 0

(1)

Among that

the many possible solutions of Eq. (1), we select corresponds to a solid cylindrical force-free

the particular one with E J =

winding

const.

The solution is shown in Fig. 2.

In comparison with a conventional

cable of the same radius a, uniform current density J , and the -ante total longitudinal current I (a)>
z

we

find

that

for

the

force-free

cable,

the

required product E J is 2.2 times greater. higher in the force-free

The factor by which I,(a) can be 0.45 r. (By comparison, the

case

is

therefore

maximum factor by which I (a) could be increased in a conventional-type cable by optimizing J(r) according to B J = const, is limited to 1.33.} Z Z An approximately force-free coil of large El/a (ratio of major to minor radius) can be realized by bending the cable of Figs. 1 and 2 into a closed loop. Coils of this type are potentially useful for inductive energy storage

or, conceivably, to form part of the guide field for a high-energy particle accelerator.

For purposes experimental appropriate.

of producing maximal magnetic a lou-H/a coil of the

field type

strength shown in

in a small Fig. 3 is

volume,

The coil has nested toroidal winding surfaces that coincide with It generates a poloidal field on its exterior, like a also pitch generates af a toroidal-field is varied component from on its to

the magnetic surfaces. conventional interior. coil, The and

helical

Che windings

surface

surface, so that J points along B an all surfaces.

To be truly force-free,

the coil must be supported by an external magnetic field from a conventional force-bearing coil but the maximum pressure B /8ir appearing at the

supporting coil can be kept relatively small.

A force-free toroid

of Low ft/a

can be used to achieve typical field-enhancement R* is defined at as the ratio of central

factors R " ' < = 2.5-3.0, where field che strength ratio to for field the

magnetic to

strength

the

supporting

coil,

normalized

same

supporting coil alone. and the maximum

Reference 4 finds that there is a trade-off between R* of the useful force-free coil bore that can be

diameter

achieved with a supporting coil of given si2e. For the coil design of Fig. 3, the mathematical approach was to solve 7 x 5 = u 3 , J = A.B, \ = I | I
0

, where \ | > is the normalized poloidal magnetic The figure uses radial and axial at x ~ 1. of
z

flux, which has a null at the coil surface.

coordinates x and z, normalized to give r * r the poloidal (z = flux surfaces B

In Fig. 3a, we see

and

the

variation to

B (x)/B (o) of the

along

the coil

midplane alone. and

0 ) , where

refers

the field

supporting

Figure 3b gives the contours of constant toroidal current density J normalized relative to the total toroidal current

the magnitude of J
s

I = Sr B ( o ) (in units of HA, m, T) on the midplarte. contours and normalized magnitude of xB_.

Figure 3c shows the

This particular coil design gives

R* = 2.7, along with a high degree of magnetic-field uniformity (3 B /3x )/B

- 0.1 within a moderate-sized coil bore.

(The external force-bearing coil is

idealized as Che single-layer solenoid at x = 1 in Fig. 3a.) Experiments with low-pressure plasmas have demonstrated the formation and stability of virtually force-free configurations ' and 3. much like those of Figs. 1

By analogy, a tendency of 3 to flow along 5 within superconducting favor the spontaneous thus simplifying emergence of a force-free pattern of

surfaces would current flow coils.

the construction of force-free cables and

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work supported by U.S. Department of Energy Contract

No. DE-ACO2-76CHO3073.

REFERENCES
1

R. Lust and A. Schluter, Z. Astrophys. 34, 263 (1954).

U.P. Furth, M.A. Levine, and R.W. Waniek, Rev. Sci. Inst rum. 28_, 949 (1957).

H.P. Furth and M.A. Levine, J. Appl. Phys. 33, 747 (1962).

H.P. Furth and S.C. Jardin, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Report PPPL-2465 (1987).

D.8. Montgomery

and W. Sampson, Appl. Phys. Lett. 6, 108 (1965).

G.D. Cody and G.W. Cullen, RCA Rev. 2J5, 466 (1964).

S.T. Sekula, R.W. Boom, and C.J. Bergeron, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2, (1963).

102

C.J. Bergeron, Appl. Phys. Lett. 3,

63 (1963).

V. Hidaka ec al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 26_, (4), L377 (1987).

T.R. Dinger ec al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58_, 2687 (1987).

FIGURE CAPTIONS

Fig. 1.

Force-free cables use heLical windings of varying picch.

Fig. 2.

For the condition BJ

= const., a particular force-free solution is

obtained in cylindrical geometry.

Fig. 3.

Insertion of a force-free coil into the force-bearing solenoid at x = I serves to triple Che field strength B at x = 0, z = 0.

s
#

8?A0053

Fig. 1

1.0

\ B C0> = i.6Bgfa) . B0<a)-Ii<aV5a

Bfi BiCO) \

0.5-

B, - A
B,CO) \ -

1 r/

o.s

\ 1.0

Fig. 2

10

0J

(0

<0 .

o 1

OJ .

lO

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