Electro-mechanical properties of PIT Nb₃Sn wires under transverse stress: experimental results and FEM analysis

Nowadays there is a great deal of interest in the scientific community in developing next-generation accelerator magnets based on high- J c Nb 3 Sn Rutherford cables. Inside a cable the wires are subjected to the combined effect of axial and transverse load. Since Nb 3 Sn is a strain sensitive material, electromechanical characterization of cables is essential for magnet design. Testing a full-size Rutherford cable is an extremely complex and involved task. For this reason special Walters springs have been developed at the University of Geneva to test single wires under longitudinal and transverse load. In this work we analyze three PIT wires under transverse compressive load. To better understand the experimental results, a finite element model was developed. This model enabled better understanding of the mechanical behavior of the three samples and investigation of the mechanisms that determine wire performance degradation upon loading.