Application of hot press bending for shaping a stack of HTS tapes operating as a trapped flux magnet

Trapped-flux magnets made of stacks of superconducting tapes are an interesting and important alternative to the application of rare-earth permanent magnets and trapping flux in bulk superconductors. Many applications, such as electric motors, can require the complex shapes of magnetic elements to combat issues such as demagnetization during the operation. Therefore, a reliable production technique of high temperature superconductor (HTS) stacks with different geometries is required to meet the needs of industry. In this article, a method of shaping the epoxy-glued stacks of superconducting tapes is proposed and investigated. The application of hot press allows to easily change the shape of the stack. The influence of shaping the stack on the density of trapped magnetic flux as well as critical current are presented. Experimental and numerical analyses are performed and their results are matched to find the change in the superconducting properties of the tapes. They show that with the proper process parameters the stacks can be shaped with only minor decrease of performance. However, strong degradation is observed if the applied force is too high. The observed problems are discussed and the possible solutions are proposed.