Investigation of interior seed effects on levitation force in Melt-Grown YBCO superconductors by experimental and numerical methods

This study introduces a novel Top-Interior Multi-Seeding Melt Growth (TI-MSMG) technique for fabricating high-performance YBCO bulk superconductors and explanations some physical background based on FEM modelling. The depth of the interior seed was gradually changed as 0, 2 and 4 mm (samples S0, S2 and S4, respectively) from the upper surface of the samples. By incorporating an interior seed into the precursor pellet, the TI-MSMG method enables systematic control over grain morphology and critical current density distribution. Magnetic levitation and guidance forces were measured using a three-axis force measurement system, and a two-dimensional finite element method (FEM) model based on the H-formulation of Maxwell’s equations was developed to simulate the electromagnetic behaviour of the superconductors with different seed positions. Experimental and modelling results reveal that samples incorporating an interior seed (S2) exhibit significantly enhanced levitation and guidance forces compared to S0 and S4, attributable to improved inter-domain interactions and morphological consistency, so a better current coupling. The numerical simulations accurately reproduced the experimental findings, confirming the validity of the modelling approach. These findings indicate that the TI-MSMG process not only addresses some limitations of conventional top-seeding methods but also enhances levitation force performance through optimization of interior seed depth, thereby enabling more efficient and tailored designs for high-temperature superconducting systems such as magnetic levitation, energy storage, and superconducting motors.