Production and supply of tungsten for the first wall fusion application is becoming an important aspect given the progress of ITER construction. Exploration of advanced routes alternative to the conventional powder metallurgy is currently undertaken. In this work we have assessed a potential of the spark plasma sintering (SPS) production route to deliver well controlled microstructure, chemistry and mechanical properties of bulk tungsten as a first step. SPS-produced tungsten was sintered at 2000 °C and was characterized in terms of mechanical properties, namely: tensile, three point bending and fracture toughness data in the temperaure range of 250–600 °C. Then, neutron irradiation was performed at 600 °C and the change of the fracture toughness was measured after irradiation together with the characterization of the fracture surface. The results are compared with those obtained for the commerically produced swaged tungsten irradiated and tested in equivalent conditions. The obtained results show that SPS technology offers the production of bulk tungsten with a good potential for further optimization (by e.g. swaging/rolling). Neutron irradiation causes the reduction of the fracture toughness comparable to the one induced in the commercially produced tungsten.

随着ITER建设的进展，用于第一个壁聚变应用的钨的生产和供应已成为重要的方面。目前正在探索替代常规粉末冶金的先进路线。在这项工作中，我们评估了火花等离子体烧结（SPS）生产路线的潜力，作为第一步，该路线可提供可控的散装钨的微观结构，化学和机械性能。SPS生产的钨在2000°C的温度下烧结，并根据机械性能进行表征，即：在250-600°C的温度范围内的拉伸，三点弯曲和断裂韧性数据。然后，在600℃下进行中子辐照，并在辐照后测量断裂韧性的变化以及断裂表面的特性。将结果与在相同条件下辐照并测试的工业生产的型锻钨获得的结果进行比较。所获得的结果表明，SPS技术为大块钨的生产提供了进一步优化（例如通过型锻/轧制）的良好潜力。中子辐照导致断裂韧性的降低与商业生产的钨引起的断裂韧性相当。