Mechanical characterization of Ti-added MgB2/Cu superconducting wires using Vickers hardness test

Abstract The Ti-added (0%, 5%, and 10%) MgB 2 /Cu superconducting wires were prepared by the powder-in-tube (PIT) method. Mechanical properties of the samples were then characterized by using a dynamic ultra-microindentation experimental technique. We observed that the sink-in effect is significant in our samples. So, the loading–unloading ( P – h ) curves were analyzed by the displacement approach to indentation. It was found that hardness ( H ) and the effective elastic modulus ( E ) values increased with added Ti. In addition, these values showed peak load dependence (i.e. indentation size effect (ISE)).