Metallographic autopsies of full-scale ITER prototype cable-in-conduit conductors after full cyclic testing in SULTAN: II. Significant reduction of strand movement and strand damage in short twist pitch CICCs

摘要

Prototype cable-in-conduit-conductors (CICCs) destined for use in the toroidal field and central solenoid coils of the ITER experimental fusion reactor underwent severe cyclic loading in the SULTAN facility. Their autopsies revealed significant and permanent transverse strand migration due to the large Lorentz forces of the SULTAN test. The movement resulted in a 3%-7% void fraction increase on the low pressure (LP) side of the longer twist pitch CICCs. However, short twist pitch conductors exhibited less than 1% void fraction increase in the LP side, as well as a complete absence of the Nb3Sn filament fractures observed in the longer twist pitch conductors. We report here a detailed strand-to-cable analysis of short and longer 'baseline' twist pitch CICCs. It was found that the use of internal tin (IT) strands in the longer 'baseline' twist pitch CICCs can be beneficial possibly because of their superior stiffness-which better resist strand movement-while the use of bronze process strands showed more movement and poorer cyclic test performance. This was not the case for the short twist pitch CICC. Such conductor design seems to work well with both strand types. But it was found that despite the absence of filament fractures, the short twist pitch CICC made from the IT strands studied here developed severe strand distortion during cabling which resulted in diffusion barrier breaks and Sn contamination of the Cu stabilizer during the heat treatment. Conversely, the short twist pitch CICC made from bronze process strands preserved diffusion barrier integrity.