Current distribution among layers of single phase HTS cable conductor

•A 1.5 m long HTS model cable with 4 layers designed by the uniform current principle has been built.•It is testified that the current distribution is influenced by the proximity effect.•The magnetic flux density and current density have been analyzed.•AC losses of tested current are larger than those of uniform current.

High temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable shows high application prospect in modern power transmission, as it is superior over conventional transmission lines in high engineering current density and environmental friendliness. Its configuration is generally composed of several HTS layers designed with the principle of uniform current distribution, but there are few experimental results to verify the distribution. In this paper, a HTS cable model was designed based on the principle of uniform current, and the current distributions among layers in an HTS cable model were measured by Rogowski coils. The results provide an important basis for design of multi-layer HTS cable.