Losses in Power Cables Made of 2G HTS Wires with Different Substrates

AC losses are an important issue in HTS power cables development especially when using low loss 2G wires. Still not so much experimental studies were performed on this subject with representative cables' models. For cables made from 1G wires some theoretical models adequately describes losses while they does not works well enough for 2G AC losses. To study the problem, the test facility and AC loss measurement methods with 5 m HTS model cables have been developed in Russian Cable Institute. Several 5 m HTS cables made of both 1-G and 2-G wires have been produced and tested at this facility. 2-G cables have different substrates both weakly magnetic and nonmagnetic once. In this paper we present data obtained for AC loss in HTS power cable models. Theoretical analysis of losses has been done as well, including substrate losses and the losses in a superconductor. Superconducting losses dominate in cables made of 1G HTS wires, while in 2G cables magnetic substrate may dominate at low currents. Several mechanisms affected AC losses due to parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields in a cable are taken into account. Theoretical and experimental data are compared and discussed. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B. V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Guest Editors.