High current AC superconducting cables are made of numerous co-assembl
ed wires. The assembly mode may be a source of performance degradation
, due to different causes, such as wire deformation, mechanical unstab
ilities, heating, anomalous current distribution among the different w
ires, longitudinal self magnetic field, unadequate junctions. These po
ssible causes have been systematically investigated ; significant resu
lts are presented for possible applications of high-performance multi-
kA conductors.