Tungsten-based materials are among the main candidate plasma-facing materials for future fusion reactors where extreme conditions of thermomechanical stresses, radiation, and energetic particles must be withstood. Here a hybrid X-pinch platform combined with a pulsed power machine was used to study damage mechanisms in 90W–4Cu–6Ni tungsten heavy alloy as a result of exposure to high energy density plasma, X-ray radiation, and the resulting thermal shock. It was found that the plasma-facing surface of the material undergoes severe melting and ablation with the extent of ablation being higher in the Cu–Ni phase than the W particles. Rapid melting and solidification transform the W particles into fine dendrite morphologies embedded in the Cu–Ni solid solution. Cracking was also observed in the subsurface layers at the interfaces between the W particles and the Cu-rich phase of the Cu–Ni matrix. X-ray radiation, on the other hand, cause slight melting on the surface without significant ablation and no cracking.

钨基材料是未来聚变反应堆中面对等离子体的主要候选材料之一，在这些聚变反应堆中，必须承受极端的热机械应力，辐射和高能粒子条件。在这里，混合式X捏合平台与脉冲功率机相结合，用于研究90W–4Cu–6Ni钨重合金在高能量密度等离子体，X射线辐射和热冲击作用下的损坏机理。已经发现，材料的等离子体表面经历了严重的熔化和烧蚀，其中Cu-Ni相的烧蚀程度高于W粒子。快速熔化和固化将W粒子转变为嵌入Cu-Ni固溶体的细小的枝晶形态。在W颗粒与Cu-Ni基体的富Cu相之间的界面下的地下层中也观察到了裂纹。另一方面，X射线辐射会导致表面轻微熔化，而不会发生明显的烧蚀和破裂。