Discussion of results achieved during the SSC Vendor Qualification Program

Oxford Superconducting Technology has been producing niobium-titanium superconducting wire with nominal 6- mu m-sized filaments for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) Vendor Qualification Program. Results from the program are presented. Phase I of the program was divided into two sections: the development phase and the preproduction phase, referred to as Phase IA and Phase IB, respectively. For Phase IA, NbTi from two different suppliers was evaluated and process optimizations were performed. For Phase IB, the process parameters were fixed to provide a statistical basis for evaluating process uniformity. The preproduction phase conductor exhibited very uniform performance both within a billet and among the entire set of billets. The developmental phase conductor provided interesting information regarding the use of NbTi alloy from two different suppliers.< >