Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of the Joints in Bi-Based Superconducting Tape for the Feeder Cable

Electric railways have several problems due to the electrical resistance of feeder lines, such as transmission loss and voltage drop. In order to solve these problems, we have been developing a superconducting feeder cable, which enables zero-resistance power transmission. Due to restrictions during transportation, the length of one superconducting cable is at most 500 m, although the average distance between substations is about several kilometers. Hence, to introduce superconducting feeder cables between substations, it is required to join superconducting feeder cables to each other at a railway site. This article reports analytical and experimental results of joining tests of the superconducting tape, assuming the joining of superconducting feeder cables at railway sites, and gives standards for the joining of superconducting feeder cables.