Quench and recovery test on stacked YBCO-coated conductors by applying various intermediate inserting materials

Stacked superconducting tapes are an important element for fabricating large current density, superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs). Various methods are used to stack superconducting tapes and the selection of the most appropriate method for an SFCL may affect its quench and recovery characteristics. In the stacked structure, the thermal/cooling condition of each tape is affected by its position and the inserted insulation material. In this paper, six samples with distinctive interposing methods were fabricated and a short-circuit test was performed to determine the quench and recovery characteristics. The test results of the six samples were compared and the individual performance of each sample in the short-circuit condition was also evaluated.