  Recently the interest about Bi-2212 round wire superconductor for high
magnetic field use has been enhancing despite the fact that an increase of the
critical current is still needed to boost its successful use in such
applications. Recent studies have demonstrated that the main obstacle to
current flow, especially in long wires, is the residual porosity inside these
Powder-In-Tube processed conductors which develops in bubbles-agglomeration
when the Bi-2212 melts. Through this work we tried to overcome this issue
acting on the wire densification by changing the deformation process. Here we
show the effects of groove-rolling versus drawing process on the critical
current density JC and on the microstructure. In particular, groove-rolled
multifilamentary wires show a JC increased by a factor of about 3 with respect
to drawn wires prepared with the same Bi-2212 powder and architecture. We think
that this approach in the deformation process is able to produce the required
improvements both because the superconducting properties are enhanced and
because it makes the fabrication process faster and cheaper.
