Reel-to-reel Characterization towards Feedback Control in Manufacturing Long REBCO High-Temperature Superconducting Tapes

The thriving trend of large-scale, high-magnetic-field superconducting applications increases the demand for high-volume of uniform and high-performance REBCO tapes. This dissertation focuses on off-line and in-line characterization techniques for assessing the quality of long REBCO tapes. A reel-to-reel magnetization measurement method has been implemented for profiling the off-line critical current density of High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) tapes. A cross-comparison on sensitivities via principle analysis and simulations incorporating various types of magnetization methods reveals that a combination of self-field remnant field measurement under dipole and quadrupole external magnetic field and in-field screening current field measurement is required to describe the tape performance for high-field applications and to identify the cracks and weak points. A variety of in-line monitoring techniques have been evaluated for assessment of REBCO tape quality. 2D-X-ray Diffraction (XRD) has been utilized to meet the specifications for reel-to-reel in-line measurement of REBCO tapes during manufacturing. The crystallography information is extracted from the tapes after necessary corrections and further post-processing of the acquired 2D-XRD diffraction data. Finally, the relationship between off-line and in-line characterization techniques has been investigated. Machine-learning models are trained to predict the self-field and in-field critical current based on the in-line measurement data. Also, a preliminary investigation of the relationship between process parameters and critical current has been conducted. It is anticipated that a combination of various characterization techniques will serve as a reliable feedback source for real-time quality control in a scaled-up Advanced Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition process, thereby providing longer and more uniform high-performance REBCO tapes for large-scale, high-field superconducting applications.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Chen, Siwei

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Selvamanickam, Venkat

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Grigoriadis, Karolos M.
• Feng, Qianmei
• Chen, Zheng
• Cescon, Marzia

• Superconductors
• Characterization
• Magnetization
• XRD
• Inline
• Offline

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. UH Libraries has secured permission to reproduce any and all previously published materials contained in the work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10657/14385

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/14385