Abstract
The effects of alloying-element additions to Ag sheath on thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of Bi-2223 superconductor tapes have been evaluated. In order to evaluate the effects of sheath alloys and their configuration on the properties of tape, various combinations of Ag and Ag alloys were selected as the inner and outer sheath. Thermal conductivity of the tapes was evaluated by using thermal integral method at 10 ∼120 K. It was observed that the addition of Mg, Sb, and Au to Ag sheath significantly decreased the thermal conductivity at low temperature probably due to the alloying effect. Specifically, the thermal conductivity of AgMg, AgSb, and AgAu at 40 K were 411.4, 142.3, and 109.7 W/(m·K), respectly, which is about 2∼9 times lower than that of Ag (1004.6 W/(m·K)). In addition, the thermal conductivity of alloy-sheathed tape was significantly dependent on their thermal conductivities of constituent sheath materials. The mechanical properties of alloy-sheathed tapes were also evaluated. Yield strength and tensile strength were improved but workability decreased for alloy-sheathed tapes.