Biaxially textured NiCrX (X = W and V) tapes as substrates for HTS coated conductor applications

In recent years, world-wide research efforts have been made to develop YBCO coated conductors for high T, superconductor application in large scale devices. Since the demonstration of the rolling assisted biaxially textured substrates (RABiTS) route as a viable approach for the production of long HTS tapes, much work has been directed towards the development of new metallic substrates for high critical current densities coated conductors. The present work is focused in development of novel non-magnetic. high oxidation resistance, biaxially textured Ni based alloys. High purity Ni-Cr-W and Ni-Cr-V alloys were prepared by plasma arc furnace and the (0 0 1 1)[1 0 0] low thickness tapes were formed by recrystallization after heavy cold rolling. The microstructure of the tapes was investigated by theta-2theta and pole figure X-ray analysis. The strength of the tapes was measured by stress-strain curves and thermogravimetric analyses were carried out to study oxidation properties of these alloys. The surface morphology of oxidised tapes has been studied by optical and SEM microscopy. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.