Improvement of thermal conductivity by adding tungsten and/or copper wire in F82H

ABSTRACT

The F82H, which is one of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels, is a strong candidate structure material for fusion reactor because of its satisfactory mechanical property and high swelling resistance in the operating temperature range. One disadvantage of F82H would be its low thermal conductivity as a structural material for divertor. In this study, we have fabricated several F82H-based composite materials by the spark plasma sintering to improve its thermal conductivity by adding tungsten and/or copper wires. F82H-20 vol.% W and F82H-10 vol.% W-10 vol.% Cu composites included reaction layers at the interface between tungsten wire and F82H matrix, resulting in the decrease in ductility and tensile strength because of the formation of tungsten carbide. On the other hand, F82H-20 vol.% Cu composite, sintered for 120 min at 1000°C, included no reaction layers and showed the highest thermal conductivity with a high relative density. Furthermore, it showed a great tensile property, which is comparable to that of the original F82H.

KEYWORDS:

• RAFM steel
• F82H
• composite material
• thermal conductivity
• spark plasma sintering

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).