PLASMA FACING COMPONENTS - MATERIALS
Plasma facing components and structural materials for fusion reactors must fulfil very strict requirements. In particular the materials in the reactor chamber must have low sputtering yields, high melting point low solubility (retention) of hydrogen isotopes and stand high radiation loads. Our group is very active on the Fusion programme dedicated to the test and development of materials with properties suitable for fusion applications. A major achievement was the production of W-Ta composites and new thermal barriers for the divertor. Results obtained for the W-Ta composites revealed that the single 2H implantation did not induced blistering, while severe blistering occurred on Ta-rich regions with single He implantation or dual He and 2H implantation. Furthermore new thermal barriers were produced using a mixture of WC-Cu with different WC grain size. Thermal diffusivity of the new WC-Cu cermet is lower than that of copper or tungsten, as desirable for thermal barrier materials. Results reveal a strong dependence of the performance on temperature and on the volume fraction of copper and a slight percent of Cu (25 vol. %) can effectively reduce the large difference in thermal expansion between tungsten and copper alloy [WPMAT].
The study and test of retention roperties of JET and ITER-like reference coatings Be, Be-N, Be-O and W is other important activity. The influence of roughness and the chemical satbility of this mixed coatings is under assessement and complete our contribution to the Fusion Programme [WPPFC].
Hosting institution and funding
Hosted by Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear of Instituto Superior Técnico, funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [UID/FIS/50010/2013] and EUROfusion [WPMAT: High Heat Flux Materials (HHFM)+ WPPFC: SP5-Post-mortem Analyses and Material Migration]
Contacts
Any request for information about the project should be addressed to
Dr. Marta Dias / Dr. Rodrigo Mateus
marta.dias at ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt
/ rmateus at ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear
Instituto Superior Técnico
Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear
Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139,7)
2695-066 Bobadela LRS - Portugal