Analytical solution for the current distribution in multistrand superconducting cables

Current distribution in multistrand superconducting cables can be a major concern for stability in superconducting magnets and for field quality in particle accelerator magnets. In this article, we describe multistrand superconducting cables by means of a distributed parameters circuit model. We derive a system of partial differential equations governing current distribution in the cable and we give the analytical solution of the general system. We then specialize the general solution to the particular case of uniform cable properties. In the particular case of a two-strand cable, we show that the analytical solution presented here is identical to the one already available in the literature. For a cable made of N equal strands we give a closed-form solution that to our knowledge was never presented before. We finally validate the analytical solution by comparison to numerical results in the case of a steplike spatial distribution of the magnetic field over a short Rutherford cable, both in transient and steady-state conditions. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.