Influence of mechanical reinforcement of MgB2 wires on the superconducting properties

Monofilamentary MgB2 wires with a mechanical tough Nb/Cu/steel or Fe/steel sheath were prepared and characterized. The steel content was varied to investigate the reinforcement effect and the consequences for the superconducting properties of the wires, which were heat treated to achieve dense and homogeneous filaments. The use of Nb as first sheath layer, having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than MgB2, requires the application of higher amounts of steel to achieve compressive pre-stress on the filament in comparison to Fe as first wall material. With raised steel content in the sheath the critical transport currents show field dependent significant critical current and irreversibility field degradations. First I, vs. axial stress and strain experiments confirmed this observation of pre-stress induced degradations. Consequences for improved wires and for future applications will be discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.