Current density distribution in resistive fault current limiters and its effect on device stability

The increase of current uniformity along of a resistive type superconductor fault current limiter (R-SFCL) in the design of this type of limiters is well perceived as an important issue. The non-uniform distribution of current in R-SFCL only increases the current in some superconducting regions, as a result, in the fault conditions, only certain parts of the superconductor undergo a phase change that increases the heat pressure in those areas and causes the breakdown and destruction of the device. In this paper, the current density distributions in common patterns used in R-SFCs constructions have been simulated and investigated. To this end, an effective model is proposed for R-SFCL to achieve the highest uniformity of current and harmonic phase change over superconductors compared to other patterns. The simulation results in the Ansys Maxwell Software advocate the appropriate and satisfying performance of the proposed model.