CURRENT REDISTRIBUTION BETWEEN STRANDS AND QUENCH PROCESS IN A SUPERCONDUCTING CABLE

The influence of current redistribution between strands on the quench process in a superconducting cable is studied. A theoretical model is developed which accounts for non-uniformities in strands. in agreement with experimental data, the model predicts that three different curre nt redistribution modes may be observed in the cable, depending on the initial current; namely the current sharing mode, and slow and fast q uench modes. It is shown that fast current redistribution can initiate multiple normal zone nucleation in strands. This phenomenon is respon sible for an abnormally large normal zone propagation velocity. The re sults obtained are of importance for understanding the quench process in multistrand superconducting cables.