Electromagnetic modeling of large-scale high-temperature superconductor systems

Abstract

The development of the high-temperature superconductors (HTS) conductors has allowed the development of diverse superconductor devices. Some of these devises, like the power generators and high-field magnets, are classified as large-scale HTS systems, because they are made of hundreds or thousands of turns. Mathematical models are required to address the analysis of these kind of systems. This task cannot be done by means of analytical models, because they are limited to the analysis of simple assemblies. The finite-element models using the H formulation have been extensively used during the last years. Nevertheless, the use of H formulation models to analyze large-scale systems is hindered by the excessive computational load. The recently proposed T-A formulation models have allowed building more efficient models for systems made of HTS tapes. Additionally, the homogenization and multi-scaling methods have been successfully applied in conjunction with the H and T-A formulations, these simplification methods allows reducing the required computational resources. In this article a new simplification method, called densification, is proposed. The strategies emerging from the combined use of the formulations and the simplification methods already mentioned are extensively explored, and the comprehensive validation and comparison of all the resulting strategies is presented.