Repetitive Charging-Discharging and Overcurrent Quench Characteristics of Conduction-Cooled Flexible HTS Current Lead

Flexible current lead may be advantageous in the electrical connection of complex or confined shapes. In this paper, we designed and fabricated a flexible HTS current lead which consists of two REBCO conductors enclosed by a copper braid. Basic thermal and electrical characteristics of the fabricated current lead are investigated at 4-30 K temperature ranges in a conduction-cooling environment. The current lead is repeatedly charged up to 600 A 12,000 times, and the characteristics change during the repetition was barely observable. After that, the protection features of the flexible current lead have been confirmed by 3 overcurrent quench test results. The quench analysis model of the flexible current lead is also presented based on the overcurrent quench test results.