ANALYSIS OF METALLIC MATERIALS FOR ITER WITH THE EMPHASIS ON COPPER ALLOYS

Abstract

The production of electrical energy from nuclear fusions is currently highly advanced field of the interest in an international scientific cooperation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor programme (ITER). Alloys based on Cu are used in the ITER project however from the future perspective in terms of the physical and mechanical properties improvement, the alloy based on CuCrZr is proposed. The CuCrZr alloy is classified as a precipitation-hardened material which is used as a functional material for various applications in ITER, for example the first wall, blanket and support, divertor and heating systems. In this study, as an experimental material was used CuCrZr alloy with the chemical composition of 98.54
wt.% Cu, 1.1 wt.% Cr, 0.043 wt.% Zr and 0.317 wt.% impurities. There was used ECAP method and heat treatment to enhance the strength properties in CuCrZr alloy. The application of sophisticated treatments based on solution annealing, structure formation by ECAP on nanoscale level and additional artificial ageing producing precipitation strengthening can be achieved the yield strength more than 500MPa.