A high temperature superconducting induction/synchronous motor with a ten-fold improvement in torque density

Abstract

In this paper, the enhancement of the torque density in a high temperature superconductor (HTS) induction/synchronous machine is experimentally and theoretically investigated by the use of Bi-2223 windings. The basic structure of this machine is the same as that of a conventional squirrel-cage induction motor, and the secondary windings are replaced by the superconducting tapes. Firstly, quantitative values of the enhanced torque are measured in an experiment using a fabricated motor at 77 K. Then, such a torque result is theoretically confirmed based upon the analytical expression, which is derived from the nonlinear electrical equivalent circuit. It is shown that the theoretical and experimental results agree well with each other, and the torque value drastically increases by more than ten times compared to the conventional induction motor. These results indicate that it is possible to realize a compact sized high efficiency HTS motor in a simple structure.