Abstract

The superconductors are able to carry very large current densities and can trap super large magnetic fields compared with conventional materials. A superconducting machine is an ideal device for power generation, ship propulsion and electric vehicles, for it would be many times smaller, lighter and more efficient than an equivalent copper wound motor. In the last few years, an increasing number of research groups concentrated on the development of a new generation of motors and generators whose rated power from some kilowatts up to several hundred megawatts such as Mitsuru Izumi’s group from Tokyo University Marine Science Technology, Ohsaki Laboratory from University of Tokyo, Philippe J. Masson’s group from University of Houston, etc. From 2005, research on fully HTS motor with HTS coils in the stator and HTS bulks on the rotor has been carried on in the Superconductivity Group of Engineering Department, University of Cambridge. Now, the world’s first bulk-type fully high temperature superconducting synchronous motor (HTS-SM) was assembled and tested in our laboratory. The results show that the performance of this HTS motor is acceptable for practical applications.