Reliability of mechanical properties for bulk superconductors with resin impregnation

We have studied the mechanical properties of Y-Ba-Cu-O rods with and without resin impregnation using a three-point bending test. The reliability of resin impregnation was evaluated using the Weibull distribution function. The Weibull coefficient for the resin-impregnated bulk was 16.03 at 77 K. In order to obtain more reliable data, the bending strengths were converted into the tensile strengths by considering a difference in the effective volume. It was confirmed that the tensile strengths of bulk YBCO could be enhanced by more than four times with resin impregnation. It was also confirmed that resin-impregnated Y-Ba-Cu-O exhibited a high Weibull coefficient and thus a high reliability for practical engineering applications.