Measurements of electromechanical forces in superconducting fault current limiters tapes under short circuit conditions

The growth of electrical energy consumption and the necessity to improve energy efficiency have been pushing the adoption of the smart grid concept. Simultaneously, the number of failures tends to increase due to the increasing complexity of modern electrical grids, especially the ones resulting from short-circuit currents. To overcome these problems superconducting fault current limiters (SFCL) have been studied and developed in order to improve grid protection systems and to optimize recovery time under failure, thus improving the reliability of electrical grids. In power devices, including SFCL, short-circuit events induce high mechanical forces that should not compromise systems integrity. In this paper, the intensity of electromagnetic forces on SFCL's tapes, developed under short circuit conditions, are measured and analyzed for different tapes distribution along the SFCL limb. The measurement procedure is based on strain gauges devices adapted to work at 77 K.