A unified approach to the power law and the critical state modeling of superconductors in 2D

Two main options exist for modeling the non-linearity of the superconductor: the power law and the critical state model. A vanishing electric field is predicted by the critical state model, which does not take into account relaxation phenomena. The power law model is to be used if flux creep is to be taken into account. However, detectable flux creep may not occur in many operating conditions. In these cases the critical state represents a more accurate modeling option. The existing numerical tools usually incorporate either the power law with a finite n-exponent or the critical state model, not both. A numerical model which incorporates both the power law and the critical state modeling of superconductors in 2D is developed in this paper. The same mathematical formulation and discretization method are used in both of the cases, and the same matrix equation is obtained. The difference between the two models only arises when the solution of the matrix equation is dealt with. The model is implemented by means of one unique computer code. The discretization can be made by means of both triangular and rectangular meshes. A circuit interpretation of the model is also introduced. The equivalence of the proposed method with the variational approach reported in the literature for dealing with the critical state is also discussed in the paper. The numerical results for some cases of practical interest are presented. The difference between the results obtained by means of the two models in terms of current distribution and ac loss is pointed out. (paper)