Manufacture of blanket shield modules for ITER

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Copper and Copper Alloys

“…119 Recent work has focused on small-and medium-scale mock-ups and full-scale prototypes of the ITER first wall panels. 122 The first wall panels of the ITER blanket are composed of a composite Cu alloy/316L(N) SS water-cooled heat sink structure with Be tile clad. A number of joining techniques have been explored for joining copper alloys to austenitic stainless steel, 316L(N), including diffusion bonding, brazing, roll bonding, explosive bonding, friction welding, and HIP.…”

“…122 The development of joining techniques for PH CuCrCr alloy must consider the loss of mechanical strength because of overaging at high temperatures. The HIPing temperature must be reduced to be as close as possible to the aging temperature.…”

EU Development of High Heat Flux Components

“…CuAl25). The application of the less brittle CuCrZr alloy however requires a careful material processing to retain the favorable mechanical properties of this material grade [5].…”

Preliminary Failure Modes and Effects Analysis of the US DCLL Test Blanket Module

“…There has been some fusion research testing of limited numbers of components for limited numbers of test cycles; however, the testing has not been sufficient to definitely prove that this joining is as reliable as traditional nuclear industry arc welding. At least one researcher commented that HIP was preferred over 'leaky' welds (Lorenzetto 2005), which gives an insight that at least some materials researchers believe that HIP joints could outperform welds. Basically, the TBM module has to perform as well as, or better than, the rest of the ITER first wall.…”