3 ms·

> I have absolutely zero clue on materials science, chemistry or physics of this experiment. Same here. So I wonder, is a superconducting material actually use

> I have absolutely zero clue on materials science, chemistry or physics of this experiment. Same here. So I wonder, is a superconducting material actually useful "in production" if it is a material that (say) crumbles easily / is not at all flexible ? If we want superconducting wires, does the material have to be ductile ?

ChrisRR 3y ago
There's trade offs to everything. Just because it can't be extruded into wire doesn't mean it can't be cast for example. If it's not ductile it can maybe be supported by a more rigid structure. It totally depends on the application and how you work around the trade offs. Considering the alternative is supercooling helium and the dealing with the issues of containing such a small atom, managing the fragility of a room temperature superconductor may have huge beneficial trade offs
- jacquesm 3y ago
  Usually flexibility is a function of how thin you can make something and what physical shape it has. You can shape it such that it becomes less flexible (think I beam for an example) or you can shape it so that it becomes more flexible (think foil). It's all the same material but the mechanical properties can be quite different. Practical use superconductor material is typically in a ribbon form, this allows for relatively easy shaping along one axis and still allows you to connect to it in a (relatively) simple way. An extra advantage of using a ribbon like conductor is that it allows for very close spacing without much loss in packing. Think 'oranges' versus 'boxes'.
jacquesm 3y ago
It needs to be flexible, but not so ductile that the magnetic fields produced deform it under the associated stresses, so preferably 'rigid' in one or two dimensions and flexible in the others. You then need to fixate it after you've made your assembly otherwise the stresses will rip it all to bits. This is why the copper wire in an electric motor is potted: the wire is what the forces in the motor act on, if the wire isn't rigidly fixed it will vibrate (and reduce efficiency) and that vibration will eventually wear through the insulation causing a short in the motor.
cyberax 3y ago
It can probably be made useful. Cuprate high-temperature (LN2, not room temperature) superconductors also have this problem, they are basically a brittle ceramic. However, it's now possible to make flexible tape out of them, by creating them as thin layers on a substrate. But it took three decades of experimentation to do that reliably.

ChrisRR 3y ago

There's trade offs to everything. Just because it can't be extruded into wire doesn't mean it can't be cast for example. If it's not ductile it can maybe be supported by a more rigid structure. It totally depends on the application and how you work around the trade offs. Considering the alternative is supercooling helium and the dealing with the issues of containing such a small atom, managing the fragility of a room temperature superconductor may have huge beneficial trade offs

jacquesm 3y ago
Usually flexibility is a function of how thin you can make something and what physical shape it has. You can shape it such that it becomes less flexible (think I beam for an example) or you can shape it so that it becomes more flexible (think foil). It's all the same material but the mechanical properties can be quite different. Practical use superconductor material is typically in a ribbon form, this allows for relatively easy shaping along one axis and still allows you to connect to it in a (relatively) simple way. An extra advantage of using a ribbon like conductor is that it allows for very close spacing without much loss in packing. Think 'oranges' versus 'boxes'.

jacquesm 3y ago

It needs to be flexible, but not so ductile that the magnetic fields produced deform it under the associated stresses, so preferably 'rigid' in one or two dimensions and flexible in the others. You then need to fixate it after you've made your assembly otherwise the stresses will rip it all to bits. This is why the copper wire in an electric motor is potted: the wire is what the forces in the motor act on, if the wire isn't rigidly fixed it will vibrate (and reduce efficiency) and that vibration will eventually wear through the insulation causing a short in the motor.

cyberax 3y ago

It can probably be made useful. Cuprate high-temperature (LN2, not room temperature) superconductors also have this problem, they are basically a brittle ceramic. However, it's now possible to make flexible tape out of them, by creating them as thin layers on a substrate. But it took three decades of experimentation to do that reliably.