Review of progress and challenges of key mechanical issues in high-field superconducting magnets.

The development of modern science and technology requires high magnetic fields exceeding 25T. Second-generation high-temperature superconducting wires, i.e. REBCO (REBa2Cu3O7-x, RE refers to Y, Gd, Dy, Eu and other rare-earth elements) coated conductors (CCs), have become the first choice for high-field magnet construction because of their high irreversible magnetic field. The mechanical stresses caused by manufacturing, thermal mismatch and Lorenz forces closely influence electromagnetic performance during operation for REBCO CCs. In addition, the recently studied screen currents have effects on the mechanical characteristics of high-field REBCO magnets. In this review, the experimental and main theoretical works on critical current degradation, delamination and fatigue, and shear investigations on REBCO CCs, are reviewed at first. Then, research progress on the screening-current effect in the development of high-field superconducting magnets is introduced. Finally, the key mechanical problems facing the future development of high-field magnets based on REBCO CCs are prospected.

Lightweight, highly tough and durable YBa2Cu3O7 -x superconductor.

The inherent brittleness and low sustainability of YBa2Cu3O7 -x (YBCO) bulk superconductor seriously impede its wide applications. It is a great challenge to achieve toughening of this material and maintain its invariable superconductivity at the same time. Here, we fabricate bulk YBCO composite superconductor with a density of 2.15 g cm-3, which consists of interlocking dual network construction and shows high toughness and durability. The results show that its unit normalized fracture energy at 77 K reaches 638.6 kN m-2, which is ∼14.8 times that of YBCO bulk prepared by the top-seeded melt textured growth (TSMTG) method. Its critical current shows no degradation during the toughening process. Moreover, after 10 000 cycles, the sample does not fracture with the decay of critical current at 4 K of 14.6% whereas the TSMTG sample fractures only after 25 cycles.

An electrometric method for the interface stress and contact resistance of pancake coil under winding force.

Interface stress and contact resistance play key roles in the safety and stability assessment of non-insulated superconducting pancake coils. An electrometric method for the interfacial stresses and contact resistance of multi-turn coils of different materials has been established, which is further applied to the measurement and analysis of contact stresses and resistances of the composite superconducting coils under the extremely low temperature environment. The mechanical and electrical behaviors are coupled through an extended electro-mechanical contact model, which also reveals the electro-mechanical interaction mechanism of the coil. The extended contact model was verified by comparison with experimental results, and the proposed electrometric method was verified by comparing the interface stresses calculated by two approaches. The contact stresses and resistances of superconducting coils with different turns are successfully obtained through the proposed electrometric method, which provides bases for the evaluation of the transport and mechanical performance of superconducting coils.

Unveiling the spectrum of electrohydrodynamic turbulence in dust storms.

Although the electrical effects in dust storms have been observed for over 100 years, little is known about their fluctuating properties, especially for the dust concentration and electric fields. Here, using a combined observational and theoretical approach, we find that wind velocity, PM10 dust concentration, and electric fields in dust storms exhibit a universal spectrum when particle mass loading is low. In particular, all measured fields at and above 5 m display a power-law spectrum with an exponent close to - 5/3 in the intermediate-wavenumber range, consistent with the phenomenological theory proposed here. Below 5 m, however, the spectra of the wind velocity and ambient temperature are enhanced, due to the modulation of turbulence by dust particles at relatively large mass loading. Our findings reveal the electrohydrodynamic features of dust storms and thus may advance our understanding of the nonlinear processes in dust storms.

Probing of the internal damage morphology in multilayered high-temperature superconducting wires.

The second generation HTS wires have been used in many superconducting components of electrical engineering after they were fabricated. New challenge what we face to is how the damages occur in such wires with multi-layer structure under both mechanical and extreme environment, which also dominates their quality. In this work, a macroscale technique combined a real-time magneto-optical imaging with a cryogenic uniaxial-tensile loading system was established to investigate the damage behavior accompanied with magnetic flux evolution. Under a low speed of tensile strain, it was found that the local magnetic flux moves gradually to form intermittent multi-stack spindle penetrations, which corresponds to the cracks initiated from substrate and extend along both tape thickness and width directions, where the amorphous phases at the tip of cracks were also observed. The obtained results reveal the mechanism of damage formation and provide a potential orientation for improving mechanical quality of these wires.

Reconstructing the electrical structure of dust storms from locally observed electric field data.

While the electrification of dust storms is known to substantially affect the lifting and transport of dust particles, the electrical structure of dust storms and its underlying charge separation mechanisms are largely unclear. Here we present an inversion method, which is based on the Tikhonov regularization for inverting the electric field data collected in a near-ground observation array, to reconstruct the space-charge density and electric field in dust storms. After verifying the stability, robustness, and accuracy of the inversion procedure, we find that the reconstructed space-charge density exhibits a universal three-dimensional mosaic pattern of oppositely charged regions, probably due to the charge separation by turbulence. Furthermore, there are significant linear relationships between the reconstructed space-charge densities and measured PM10 dust concentrations at each measurement point, suggesting a multi-point large-scale charge equilibrium phenomenon in dust storms. These findings refine our understanding of charge separation mechanisms and particle transport in dust storms.

A versatile facility for investigating field-dependent and mechanical properties of superconducting wires and tapes under cryogenic-electro-magnetic multifields.

To investigate the field-dependent and mechanical properties of superconducting wires and tapes as a function of cryogenic temperature, transport current, and magnetic field, we designed and constructed a versatile facility capable of providing cryogenic-electro-magnetic multifields. The facility comprises several relatively independent systems to acquire multiple fields and explore various properties for superconductors. A superconducting racetrack magnet is manufactured to generate a transverse background field up to 3.5 T in a relatively large space of a homogeneous region of ∅200 mm × H 150 mm. A cryogenic system consisting of a vacuum Dewar vessel with a visible window cooled by two Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers for providing refrigeration was built to accommodate the background magnet and testing devices, in which one GM cryocooler cools the magnet at an operation temperature of about 4 K and the other maintains a cryogenic environment for specimens in conduction mode with the cryocooler head directly contacting the fixtures. The continuous variations of temperature (4-293 K) and transport current (0-1000 A) in the superconducting wires and tapes that were tested are, respectively, implemented by an integration differentiation temperature control with an optional temperature sweep rate and a DC high-power supply. Most prominently, the facility can measure the field-dependent and mechanical properties for superconducting wires and tapes, which is implemented by a mechanical loading and measuring system equipped with a universal testing machine possessing a specific design of widening and heightening size and a noncontact digital image correlation method with a high-speed, high-resolution CCD camera for real-time recording and full-field deformation of specimens. The preliminary results of tests verify the multifield functionalities of the versatile facility and illustrate the performance of the facility for studying the properties of superconducting wires and tapes as a function of magnetic field, cryogenic temperature, transport current, and mechanical loading.

Stability of vortex rotation around a mesoscopic square superconducting ring under radially injected current and an external magnetic field.

We present the stability of vortex rotation around a mesoscopic square superconducting ring under radially injected currents and external magnetic fields based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations. We demonstrate that the vortex rotation around a square ring can lead to voltage oscillations as the vortices periodically pass by the corners. The amplitude of the time evolution of the voltage oscillations as a function of external current is studied at different magnetic fields, and the effect of thermal noise on the voltage oscillations is discussed. The rotation frequency depends linearly on external current at lower magnetic fields, whereas it is a nonlinear function of external current at higher magnetic fields. The stable vortex rotation appears in a certain range of injected currents under magnetic fields, but it is unstable at high injected currents. It is found that such a transition from stability to instability can lead to an abrupt jump in current-voltage characteristics.

Nanoscale assembly of superconducting vortices with scanning tunnelling microscope tip.

Vortices play a crucial role in determining the properties of superconductors as well as their applications. Therefore, characterization and manipulation of vortices, especially at the single-vortex level, is of great importance. Among many techniques to study single vortices, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) stands out as a powerful tool, due to its ability to detect the local electronic states and high spatial resolution. However, local control of superconductivity as well as the manipulation of individual vortices with the STM tip is still lacking. Here we report a new function of the STM, namely to control the local pinning in a superconductor through the heating effect. Such effect allows us to quench the superconducting state at nanoscale, and leads to the growth of vortex clusters whose size can be controlled by the bias voltage. We also demonstrate the use of an STM tip to assemble single-quantum vortices into desired nanoscale configurations.

Flux avalanche in a superconducting film with non-uniform critical current density.

The flux avalanche in type-II superconducting thin film is numerically simulated in this paper. We mainly consider the effect of non-uniform critical current density on the thermomagnetic stability. The nonlinear electromagnetic constitutive relation of the superconductor is adopted. Then, Maxwell's equations and heat diffusion equation are numerically solved by the fast Fourier transform technique. We find that the non-uniform critical current density can remarkably affect the behaviour of the flux avalanche. The external magnetic field ramp rate and the environmental temperature have been taken into account. The results are compared with a film with uniform critical current density. The flux avalanche first appears at the interface where the critical current density is discontinuous. Under the same environmental temperature or magnetic field, the flux avalanche occurs more easily for the film with the non-uniform critical current density. The avalanche structure is a finger-like pattern rather than a dendritic structure at low environmental temperatures.

A visualization instrument to investigate the mechanical-electro properties of high temperature superconducting tapes under multi-fields.

We construct a visible instrument to study the mechanical-electro behaviors of high temperature superconducting tape as a function of magnetic field, strain, and temperature. This apparatus is directly cooled by a commercial Gifford-McMahon cryocooler. The minimum temperature of sample can be 8.75 K. A proportion integration differentiation temperature control is used, which is capable of producing continuous variation of specimen temperature from 8.75 K to 300 K with an optional temperature sweep rate. We use an external loading device to stretch the superconducting tape quasi-statically with the maximum tension strain of 20%. A superconducting magnet manufactured by the NbTi strand is applied to provide magnetic field up to 5 T with a homogeneous range of 110 mm. The maximum fluctuation of the magnetic field is less than 1%. We design a kind of superconducting lead composed of YBa2Cu3O7-x coated conductor and beryllium copper alloy (BeCu) to transfer DC to the superconducting sample with the maximum value of 600 A. Most notably, this apparatus allows in situ observation of the electromagnetic property of superconducting tape using the classical magnetic-optical imaging.

Multiplication method for sparse interferometric fringes.

Fringe analysis in the interferometry has been of long-standing interest to the academic community. However, the process of sparse fringe is always a headache in the measurement, especially when the specimen is very small. Through theoretical derivation and experimental measurements, our work demonstrates a new method for fringe multiplication. Theoretically, arbitrary integral-multiple fringe multiplication can be acquired by using the interferogram phase as the parameter. We simulate digital images accordingly and find that not only the skeleton lines of the multiplied fringe are very convenient to extract, but also the main frequency of which can be easily separated from the DC component. Meanwhile, the experimental results have a good agreement with the theoretic ones in a validation using the classical photoelasticity.

A Parametric Study on Overband Radial Build for a REBCO 800-MHz Insert of a 1.3-GHz LTS/HTS NMR Magnet.

A high-resolution 1.3-GHz/54-mm low-temperature superconducting/high-temperature superconducting (HTS) nuclear magnetic resonance magnet (1.3 G) is currently being built at Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of its key components is an 800-MHz HTS insert (H800) comprising three nested coils. Each coil is a stack of double-pancake coils wound with 6-mm-wide 75-µm-thick REBCO tape. For this H800 generating its self-field of 18.6 T and being exposed to a total field as high as 30.5 T, overbanding each pancake coil is necessary to keep the conductor strain at < 0.6%. Although electromagnetic and mechanical details of the H800 had been considered during its design stage, a parametric study on the overband radial build considering winding tension effect should further confirm the results of our previous analysis. Thus, in this paper, based on Maxwell's equations and the equilibrium equations for mechanical deformation, we examine stress levels that the H800 experiences as H800 undergoes winding-energizing sequences during operation at 1.3 GHz. We also discuss the effects of overband radial build and winding tension on conductor stress in each coil. Finally, based on this analysis, we may further optimize the stainless-steel overbanding and winding tension on each H800 coil.

Effects of cold-treatment and strain-rate on mechanical properties of NbTi/Cu superconducting composite wires.

During design and winding of superconducting magnets at room temperature, a pre-tension under different rate is always applied to improve the mechanical stability of the magnets. However, an inconsistency rises for superconductors usually being sensitive to strain and oversized pre-stress which results in degradation of the superconducting composites' critical performance at low temperature. The present study focused on the effects of the cold-treatment and strain-rate of tension deformation on mechanical properties of NbTi/Cu superconducting composite wires. The samples were immersed in a liquid nitrogen (LN2) cryostat for the adiabatic cold-treatment, respectively with 18-hour, 20-hour, 22-hour and 24-hour. A universal testing machine was utilized for tension tests of the NbTi/Cu superconducting composite wires at room temperature; a small-scale extensometer was used to measure strain of samples with variable strain-rate. The strength, elongation at fracture and yield strength of pre-cold-treatment NbTi/Cu composite wires were drawn. It was shown that, the mechanical properties of the superconducting wires are linearly dependent on the holding time of cold-treatment at lower tensile strain-rate, while they exhibit notable nonlinear features at higher strain-rate. The cold-treatment in advance and the strain-rate of pre-tension demonstrate remarkable influences on the mechanical property of the superconducting composite wires.

A direct tensile device to investigate the critical current properties in superconducting tapes.

We construct an instrument to study the behavior of the critical current in superconducting tapes as a function of magnetic field and axial tension strain. The apparatus combines a material testing machine made by the non-magnetic stainless steel, which is capable of producing mechanical forces up to 1000 N and magnetic field up to 5 T with a homogeneous range of Φ150 × 110 mm. Moreover, the apparatus allows the automatic measurement of time dependence of voltage (V-t) under different magnetic fields and applied strains, which can be used to investigate the vortex instability and its time effect in the superconducting tapes. As an example, the simultaneous measurements of critical current and voltage relaxation with time at various strains and magnetic fields for the YaBa2Cu3O7-x coated conductors are carried out. Comparisons are made with the earlier reports in literature; the strain and magnetic field dependence of critical current indicate consistent behavior of this instrument.

A device to investigate the delamination strength in laminates at room and cryogenic temperature.

We construct an instrument to study the behavior of delamination strength in laminates which can be defined as the critical transverse stress at which an actual delamination occurs. The device allows the anvil measurements at room temperature or the liquid nitrogen temperature. For the electro-magnetic laminated materials (e.g., a superconducting YaBa2Cu3O(7-x) coated conductor which has a typical laminated structure), the delamination strength was measured while the properties of transport current were also recorded. Moreover, the influences of external magnetic field on the delamination strength were presented.

The coherent gradient sensor for film curvature measurements at cryogenic temperature.

Coherent Gradient Sensor (CGS) system is presented for measurement of curvatures and nonuniform curvatures changes in film-substrate systems at cryogenic temperature. The influences of the interface of refrigerator and itself on the interferograms which are accounting for the temperature effect are successfully eliminated. Based on the measurement technique, the thermal stresses (including the radial stress, circumferential stress and shear stress) of superconducting YBCO thin-film are obtained by the extended Stoney's formula during the heating process from 30K to 150K. Take the superconducting YBCO thin film as an example, the thermal stresses of which are gained successfully.

[A three dimensional finite element analysis on en-masse retraction of maxillary anterior teeth by rocking-chair archwire in sliding mechanics].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of en-masse retraction of maxillary anterior teeth by rocking-chair archwire (RCA) in sliding mechanics. METHODS: The three dimensional finite element model of maxillary teeth was created based on spiral CT data of a patient by ANSYS software. The forces on each tooth and the torques on the six center of resistance (CR) of the anterior teeth induced by the deformation of RCA with different depth and anterior retraction hook (ARH) with different height were calculated when retracted from a mini-implant between the first molar and the second premolar. The movements of anterior teeth were observed combining different depth of RCA with different height of ARH. RESULTS: The clockwise torque in sliding mechanics to realize en-masse retraction of the anterior teeth could be counterbalanced by RCA of certain depth. The combination of 7.2 mm ARH and 2 mm RCA can be used to intrude and retract maxillary anterior teeth under the condition of applying mini-implant. CONCLUSION: The excessive retraction that usually exists in traditional treatments can be avoided by RCA in sliding mechanics and intrusion and torque control during anterior segment retraction can also be achieved by this method.

Anomalous flexural behaviors of microtubules.

Apparent controversies exist on whether the persistence length of microtubules depends on its contour length. This issue is particularly challenging from a theoretical point of view due to the tubular structure and strongly anisotropic material property of microtubules. Here we adopt a higher order continuum orthotropic thin shell model to study the flexural behavior of microtubules. Our model overcomes some key limitations of a recent study based on a simplified anisotropic shell model and results in a closed-form solution for the contour-length-dependent persistence length of microtubules, with predictions in excellent agreement with experimental measurements. By studying the ratio between their contour and persistence lengths, we find that microtubules with length at ~1.5 µm show the lowest flexural rigidity, whereas those with length at ~15 µm show the highest flexural rigidity. This finding may provide an important theoretical basis for understanding the mechanical structure of mitotic spindles during cell division. Further analysis on the buckling of microtubules indicates that the critical buckling load becomes insensitive to the tube length for relatively short microtubules, in drastic contrast to the classical Euler buckling. These rich flexural behaviors of microtubules are of profound implication for many biological functions and biomimetic molecular devices.

On resistance to virus entry into host cells.

In this article, we adopt a continuum model from Sun and Wirtz (2006. Biophys. J. 90:L10-L12) to show that, for the enveloped virus entry into host cells, the binding energy of the receptor-ligand complex can drive the engulfment of the viral particle to overcome the resistance alternatively dominated by the membrane deformation and cytoskeleton deformation at a different engulfing stage. This is contrary to the conclusions by Sun and Wirtz that the cytoskeleton deformation is always dominant. This discrepancy occurs because the energy of membrane deformation in their article is incorrect. Such an unfortunate small error has led to a severe underestimation of the contribution from membrane deformation to the total energy of the system, which then led them to improperly conclude that the cytoskeleton deformation plays the dominant role in the virus entry into host cell. By using the correct energy expression, our conclusion is justified by energy comparisons under a large range of virus sizes and Young's moduli of cytoskeleton. We even find that a critical radius of virus exists, beyond which the resistance to the virus engulfment becomes dominated by the membrane deformation during the whole stage, contrary to the point of view of Sun and Wirtz.