Speaker
Young-Bum Chun
(Nuclear Materials Development Division)
Description
Reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steel is considered a primary candidate for the structural material in a fusion reactor. The operational design window for a blanket is limited by the high-temperature creep and low-temperature irradiation embrittlement of the structural material, and it is therefore essential to develop RAFM steel which can withstand high temperatures and high energy neutron irradiation. For this purpose, an advanced reduced-activation alloy (ARAA) containing 0.01 wt.% Zr has been developed for structural material in fusion reactors in Korea. A five-ton scale heat of ARAA was successfully produced by the vacuum induction melting (VIM) and electro-slag re-melting (ESR) methods, for which thermal, physical, magnetic and mechanical properties were evaluated. Recently, a six-ton scale heat was produced by VIM but refined by different method, vacuum arc re-melting (VAR), and its properties were evaluated. Comparison of the properties of both ARAA heats with different refining methods reveals that strength and ductility of ARAA heat refined by VAR methods are much better than that by ESR, while thermal, physical and magnetic properties of the heat are comparable to those refined by ESR. The VAR heat contains less impurity than those refined by ESR, and exhibits more homogeneous microstructure. It is therefore concluded that VAR method is a better refining method for production of ARAA.
Co-authors
Chang-Kyu Rhee
(Nuclear Materials Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea)
Dongwon Lee
(Nuclear Fusion Engineering Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Deajeon, South Korea)
Seungyon Cho
(System Technology Division, National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon, Daejeon, South Korea)
Suk-Hoon Kang
(Nuclear Materials Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea)
Yi-Hyun Park
(System Technology Division, National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon, Daejeon, South Korea)
Yong Hwang Jeong
(Nuclear Materials Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea)
Young-Bum Chun
(Nuclear Materials Development Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea)
