Mechanical considerations in the processing of high Tc superconductors

This paper presents a brief review of deformation processing concepts germane to high-Tc superconductor processing, and illustrates some available techniques with results from recent work. It is noted that YBa2Cu3O(7-x) powder/binder cold extrusion technique is quite sensitive to binder formulation and processing conditions. With appropriate technique, indefinite lengths of YBa2Cu3O(7-x) powder/binder composite can be extruded with sufficient workability to allow coiling and other forming operations. With heat treatment, the resulting prototype wire is electrically continuous and manifests critical current densities of a few hundred A/sq cm. The hot extrusion of YBa2Cu3O(7-x) powder results in a modest, but favorable, development of a texture involving preferential rotation of the c-axis toward the radial direction. Billet designs involving larger powder charge diameters, and thinner container walls, produce the favorable texture. Unfortunately, such billet designs reduce workability. 29 refs