Tungsten is a promising armour material for plasma facing components of nuclear fusion reactors because of its lowudsputter rate and favourable thermo-mechanical properties. Among all the techniques able to realise W armours, plasmaudspray looks particularly attractive owing to its simplicity and low cost. The present work concerns the optimisation ofudspraying parameters aimed at 4–5 mm thickWcoating on copper–chromium–zirconium (Cu,Cr,Zr) alloy substrates. Characterisationudof coatings was performed in order to assess microstructure, impurity content, density, tensile strength, adhesionudstrength, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient. The work performed has demonstrated theudfeasibility of thick W coatings on flat and curved geometries. These coatings appear as a reliable armour for medium heatudflux plasma facing component.
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