Tensile Properties of (Gd,Y,Er)BaCuO Superconducting Bulk Material Fabricated by the Infiltration Growth Technique

In order to evaluate the mechanical properties of a (Gd,Y,Er)BaCuO low porosity single-grain bulk sample fabricated by the infiltration growth technique, tensile tests of specimens cut from the bulk sample were carried out. Relationship between the tensile strength and porosity was investigated for the specimens. Tensile strength increases with decreasing the porosity, which is due to the increase of net cross-sectional area and reduction of defects where the stress concentration occurs. Tensile strength of the (Gd,Y,Er)BaCuO bulk sample is comparable to those of other low porosity single-grain bulk materials, (Gd,Dy)BaCuO fabricated by the infiltration growth technique and DyBaCuO fabricated by the melt-processing in O2 atmosphere. Solidified liquid phase regions and segregated secondary phase particles are observed for the low tensile strength specimens.