SBIR Phase I: Development of High Performance NbTi Superconductors Utilizing Nanometer-Scale Metal Oxide and Nickel Pinning Sites

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种将纳米级夹杂物纳入超导铌钛（NbTi）合金线的创新工艺。这些内含物将作为磁通量固定位点，与传统加工方法相比，可以提高临界电流密度（Jc）性能。创新将包括使用纳米级NbTi粉末和纳米级金属氧化物粉末或镍粉末的混合物。与其他粉末冶金和棒材工艺相比，纳米级粉末的使用将大大减少最佳夹杂物（销）尺寸和间距所需的线材变形量。这将有利于线材的长度和加工成本。同时，该工艺的好处是，引脚体积可以很容易地调整，以获得最大的Jc性能。相比之下，通过传统的热机械加工技术可以实现的NbTi导体钉钉位置的体积受到沉淀动力学的限制，从而导致Jc性能的上限。在商业上，改进的NbTi导体将应用于高能物理加速器、磁共振成像（MRI）系统和核磁共振（NMR）设备的超导磁体中。提高临界电流密度性能将直接转化为MRI和NMR行业的成本节约和更大的设计灵活性。这将对MRI行业（一个销售额迅速接近30亿美元的行业）特别感兴趣，该行业很难在竞争日益激烈的国际市场中保持优势。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an innovative process for incorporation of nanometer-scale inclusions into superconducting Niobium Titanium (NbTi) alloy wires. These inclusions will serve as magnetic flux pinning sites, resulting in improved critical current density (Jc) performance as compared to that which can be obtained by conventional processing methods. The innovation will consist in the use of mixtures of nanometer-scale NbTi powder and nanometer-scale metal oxide powder or nickel powder. The use of nanometer-scale powders will greatly reduce the amount of wire deformation required for optimum inclusion (pin) size and spacing as compared with other powder metallurgical and rod-based processes. This will be beneficial for wire piece-length and processing costs. At the same time, the process will have the benefit that pin volume may be easily adjusted for maximum Jc performance. By contrast, the volume of pinning sites that may be realized by conventional thermomechanical processing techniques for NbTi conductors is limited by precipitation kinetics, resulting in an upper limit to Jc performance. Commercially, an improved NbTi conductor will find application in superconducting magnets used for high energy physics accelerators, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) devices. Increased critical current density performance will translate directly into cost savings and greater design flexibility for the MRI and NMR industries. This will be of particular interest to the MRI industry (an industry rapidly approaching $3 billion dollars in sales), where it is difficult to maintain an advantage in an increasingly competitive international market.