AC Loss Calculation of REBCO Cables by the Combination of Electric Circuit Model and 2D Finite Element Method

This study investigates the losses in a two conducting-layer REBCO cable fabricated by researchers at Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. The losses were calculated using a combination of my electric circuit (EC) model with a two-dimensional finite element method (2D FEM). The helical pitches of the tapes in each layer, P1 and P2, were adjusted to equalize the current in both cable layers, although the loss calculation assumed infinite helical pitches and the same current in each layer at first. The results showed that the losses depended on the relative tape-position angle between the layers (θ/θ’), because the vertical field between adjacent tapes in the same layer varied with θ/θ’. When simulating the real cable, the helical pitches were adjusted and the layer currents were calculated by the EC model. These currents were input to the 2D FEM to compute the losses. The losses changed along the cable length because the difference between P1 and P2 altered the θ/θ’ along this direction. The average angle-dependent and position-dependent losses were equal and closely approximated the measured losses. As an example to reduce the loss in this cable, the angle and the helical pitches were fixed at θ/θ’ = 0.5 and P1 = P2 = 100 mm (S-direction). The calculation with these conditions indicated that the loss is about one order of magnitude lower than the measurement.