The research will develop a new technique for materials processing. The technique will demonstrate the fabrication of a composite Nb3Sn superconductor and will offer the promise of greater economy in manufacture and improved performance. In the technique, a ductile matrix contains particles of a brittle material that are made to deform by the hydrostatic force in the ductile matrix. The material in wire form will be heated briefly to a temperature above the recrystallization temperature of the ductile component that will transmit the deformation force hydrostatically to the brittle component. The wire will be heated at die entrance, deformed in the die, and quenched at die exit. The time at temperature for any point on the wire will be only a few seconds and undesired diffusion will not occur. The research should produce more reliable and economical Nb3Sn conductors for fusion energy device magnets, NMR Magnets, Accelerator Magnets, etc. and provide new techniques for the deformation of brittle powders.
