Fatigue Life of the Plasma-Facing Components in PULSAR
Jeffrey A. Crowell, James P. Blanchard and the PULSAR team
Fusion Technology Institute
University of Wisconsin - Madison
1500 Johnson Dr.
Madison, WI 53706-1687

Abstract:

PULSAR features two major engineering designs: a liquid lithium-cooled, vanadium alloy design and a helium-cooled, silicon carbide composite design. Results are given for each. It is shown that the superior thermal and strength properties of the vanadium alloy allow a much wider spectrum of design options. The SiC composite properties cause significantly more difficulty for the designer and, in particular, no credible design is found for a divertor fabricated solely from the SiC composite. This conclusion is based on current (limited) data for the thermophysical properties and fatigue strength of SiC fiber composites. The developments in these composites needed to create a viable SiC composite divertor are discussed.

• Introduction
• Methodology
  • Failure criteria
  • Vanadium alloy properties
  • SiC/SiC composite properties
  • Configuration
  • Boundary conditions
  • Stress analysis
  • Loads
• First wall results
• Divertor results
• Conclusions
• References
• About this document ...