About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Accelerated Qualification Methods for Nuclear Reactor Structural Materials
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| Presentation Title |
Simulating fission neutron irradiated tungsten with self-ion irradiation for predicting damage in commercial nuclear fusion reactors |
| Author(s) |
Kieran Rivers, Andrew London, Michael Moody, Paul Bagot, Adrien Couet, David Armstrong |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Kieran Rivers |
| Abstract Scope |
Tungsten is the leading candidate for the first wall and divertor in magnetically confined fusion reactors. More information is needed to accurately predict how and why its properties degrade under fusion neutron irradiation. Since no continuous source of fusion-relevant neutrons exists, this study uses self-ion irradiation as a substitute. Previous self-ion irradiations have produced microstructures with more diffuse precipitates compared to high flux fission neutron irradiated tungsten, likely due to the low temperature and/or damage dose of the ion irradiations. In this work, pre-alloyed tungsten samples, with compositions designed to mimic transmutation effects, were irradiated at 800°C to 100 dpa using ion beam facilities at the University Wisconsin-Madison. Atom probe revealed formation of well-defined precipitates and decorated dislocation networks, representing an improvement over previous ion irradiations to more closely simulate neutron damage. Despite this, the composition and spatial distribution of these features still differ from those produced by neutron irradiation. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
High-Temperature Materials, Nuclear Materials, Other |