Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, in collaboration with Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, have developed a new design for superconducting cables that addresses common flaws found in traditional wires. The technology uses multiple strands of superconducting tape to form a cable, which helps minimize the risk of failure due to defects within individual wires. When current encounters a defect in one strand, it can move to a neighboring strand, ensuring continued operation.
This research was published in Superconductor Science and Technology and aims to tackle challenges faced by manufacturers and engineers who require reliable equipment for electric motors and other applications. The approach could result in more efficient and less expensive wires suitable for use in electric motors and various superconducting coil applications.
“By partnering with Advanced Conductor Technologies, not only are we supporting the development of a new, innovative idea, but we also have a way to transition the technology quickly to applications,” said Sastry Pamidi, interim director of the Center for Advanced Power Systems and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The research we’re doing directly translates into low-cost superconducting wire and mitigates equipment failure due to defects in the conductor.”
The technology builds on earlier work with Colorado-based Advanced Conductor Technologies (ACT), where researchers helped develop Conductor on Round Core (CORC) wire. CORC wires are constructed by winding multiple superconducting tapes in a spiral shape. Instead of soldering these tapes together, they use pressure between them to allow electricity to flow from one tape to another, maintaining flexibility and strength under tension.
If defects occur randomly throughout a wire, they are unlikely to cluster together within a cable. This allows for “current sharing,” where current bypasses defective areas by moving between tapes—an approach that reduces waste during manufacturing and lowers costs.
The project is part of an ongoing partnership between FSU researchers and private industry partners such as ACT and New York-based SuperPower Inc., which manufactures high-temperature superconducting tape. The collaboration began through programs like Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Funding for this latest project came from the U.S. Department of Energy.
“We are not just doing research for the sake of doing research,” Pamidi said. “It has an impact. Our work helps companies develop products. Without us, those companies cannot do this work, because we are contributing scientific expertise and advanced facilities for research that are directly benefiting companies and helping them to advance their manufacturing processes.”
Danko van der Laan, president and CEO of Advanced Conductor Technologies, commented on the longstanding relationship: “The expertise and scientific infrastructure of Florida State University have been vital in the development of superconducting CORC cables and wires at Advanced Conductor Technologies since they were first introduced as a commercial product by my company in 2014… Our collaboration with FSU… has allowed us to solve many technical challenges that would have prevented our cables from becoming a successful commercial solution for applications such as fusion, particle accelerators and power applications.”
Superconducting wires have wide-ranging uses including electrical motors, generators, electric airplanes, ships, medical equipment, fusion power plants, artificial intelligence data centers, power transmission lines, high-energy physics experiments, among others. They allow electricity to be transmitted without losses—enabling more efficient machines such as magnetic levitation trains.
Yifei Zhang, vice president of research and development at SuperPower Inc., noted: “We are very happy to see the outcome from this work… Thanks to the unique structure of CORC…the project successfully demonstrated that coils made with VIC wires…achieved equivalent performance as coils made with almost perfect wires. This result can change the way wire production yield is calculated…which will lead to a significant reduction in wire cost.”
Early superconductors required extremely low temperatures near absolute zero; however, ongoing research led by Pamidi’s team is focused on developing high-temperature superconducting wires that function at higher temperatures—up to 77 kelvins—making practical applications more feasible.
Co-authors on this study include Jeremy Weiss, Danko van der Laan, Chul Kim, Reed Teyber, Kyle Radcliff, Virginia Phifer, Daniel Davis, Yifei Zhang and Lance Cooley. Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy as well as support from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory through backing from the National Science Foundation.
