Intrinsic strain effect on critical current in Cu-stabilized GdBCO coated conductor tapes with different substrates

The intrinsic strain effect on critical current, Ic in Cu-stabilized GdBCO coated conductor (CC) tapes under bending and uniaxial tension has been investigated. The bending deformation tolerance of Ic in GdBCO CC tapes, fabricated by reactive co-evaporation by deposition and reaction (RCE-DR) with substrate materials of Hastelloy and stainless steel and fabricated by the metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) process was evaluated. The intrinsic strain response of Ic under bending was found to be independent of the fabrication process, the substrate material and the geometry of the sample. For samples with a Hastelloy substrate, the intrinsic strain response of Ic/Icmax under bending was well correlated with those under uniaxial tension. However, for samples with a stainless steel substrate, these had a large strain sensitivity for Ic under uniaxial tension even though this showed a much higher irreversible strain limit up to 1.05%.