Automated ultrasonic immersion testing of fusion reactor components: implementation and evaluation with high accuracy. - (PPT)

摘要

Future fusion power plants will be in competition with other energy technologies. The blanket will play a decisive role in this context, since its thermal efficiency and power density influence directly to the overall performance of the power plant. The blanket must perform three functions: conversion of neutron energy from the fusion reaction into thermal energy, breeding of the fuel tritium by the capture of neutrons in lithium and shielding the superconducting magnets from neutron and gamma radiation. The first wall (FW) of blanket is directly facing the fusion plasma and is exposed to a surface heat flux of about 0.5 MW/m~2. As a structural material for blanket components, the reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steel EUROFER (major components 89 wt.% Fe, 9 wt.% Cr and 1.1 wt.% W) was developed. A blanket module consists of diffusion-welded cooling plates (CPs), which are interconnected by various welding methods. The welds were examined using non-destructive ultrasonic immersion testing method, which were performed on an automated modern ultrasonic immersion system KC-200 manufactured by GE Inspection Technologies. To characterize the material and structure irregularities more precisely and examine the quality of the diffusion bending interfaces, the ultrasonic immersion testing results are evaluated and illustrated using 3-D visualization software.