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A Preliminary Work on the Preparation for Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Fusion Materials Using Small Samples in China

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Abstract

A variety of new materials have been developed during the past two decades in China to support the design and construction of key components for next step fusion devices. Most recently, a domestic project, promoted by the engineering design of China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), has been launched to preliminarily investigate the performance of advanced fusion materials after neutron irradiation. The goal of this paper is to introduce the preparation for the coming neutron irradiation campaign. The development status and acceptance of some outstanding fusion materials are briefly reviewed with the main description focusing on some high-performance 9Cr-ODS steels, Cu–0.3Al2O3 alloys, W-K and W-ZrC alloys for blanket/divertor components. The principles for screening suitable materials out from several candidates are suggested, which consider low activation, sufficient production scale, homogeneous microstructures, safety margin and repeatability of basic properties as the basic requirements. As a recommended approach for neutron irradiation tests, the small sample testing technology (SSTT) is highlighted in this paper. Further development of SSTT using inverse finite element method (FEM) and energy equivalent principle is performed for new designs of small tensile samples.

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Availability of Data and Material

This paper includes some data not published yet, the authors declare that the release of these data is approved by the material supplier. The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of other ongoing studies.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos.: 2018YFE0307101, 2018YFE0307102) and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2018JZ0070). The auhors are grateful to Prof. Yanfen Li at Institute of Metal Research Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR) for releasing some data not yet published.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu, China

    Pengfei Zheng, Xing Liu, Zhijie Zhang & Jiming Chen

  2. Institute for Advanced Study, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610106, China

    Shouhua Sun

Authors
  1. Pengfei Zheng
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  2. Xing Liu
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  3. Zhijie Zhang
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  4. Jiming Chen
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Contributions

Pengfei Zheng: formal analysis, data curation, writing—original draft. Xing Liu: resources, data collection—review and editing. Zhijie Zhang: investigation, methodology. Jiming Chen: funding acquisition, supervision, project administration. Shouhua Sun: supervision, validation, conceptualization—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Shouhua Sun.

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Zheng, P., Liu, X., Zhang, Z. et al. A Preliminary Work on the Preparation for Neutron Irradiation of Advanced Fusion Materials Using Small Samples in China. J Fusion Energ 40, 11 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-021-00296-3

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