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Article

Thermal Shock and Synergistic Plasma and Heat Load Testing of Powder Injection Molding Tungsten-Based Alloys

by
Mauricio Gago
1,*,
Steffen Antusch
2,
Alexander Klein
2,
Arkadi Kreter
1,
Christian Linsmeier
1,
Michael Rieth
2,
Bernhard Unterberg
1 and
Marius Wirtz
1
1
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Fusion Energy and Nuclear Waste Management—Plasma Physics (IFN-1), 52425 Jülich, Germany
2
Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344 Karlsruhe, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Nucl. Eng. 2025, 6(3), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030025
Submission received: 12 May 2025 / Revised: 23 June 2025 / Accepted: 4 July 2025 / Published: 7 July 2025
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Abstract

Powder injection molding (PIM) has been used to produce nearly net-shaped samples of tungsten-based alloys. These alloys have been previously shown to have favorable characteristics when compared with standard ITER-grade tungsten. Six different alloys were produced with this method: W-1TiC, W-2Y2O3, W-3Re-1TiC, W-3Re-2Y2O3, W-1HfC and W-1La2O3-1TiC. These were tested alongside ITER-grade tungsten in the PSI-2 linear plasma device under ITER-relevant plasma and heat loads to assess their suitability for use in a fusion reactor. All materials showed good behavior when exposed to the lower pulse number tests (≤1000 ELM-like pulses), although standard tungsten performed slightly better, with no observable difference in surface roughness. High-power shots, namely one laser pulse of 1.6 GWm−2, revealed that samples containing yttria are more prone to melting and droplet ejection. After high pulse number tests (10,000 and 100,000 pulses), with and without plasma, the reference tungsten showed the most cracking and highest surface roughness of all materials, while the PIM samples seemed to have a higher resistance to cracking. This can be attributed to the higher ductility of these alloys, particularly those containing rhenium. This means that tungsten-based alloys, whether produced via PIM or other methods, could potentially be used in certain areas of a fusion reactor.
Keywords: nuclear fusion; tungsten; powder injection molding; PIM; plasma; PSI-2; ELM; thermal shocks; plasma-facing materials; divertor nuclear fusion; tungsten; powder injection molding; PIM; plasma; PSI-2; ELM; thermal shocks; plasma-facing materials; divertor
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MDPI and ACS Style

Gago, M.; Antusch, S.; Klein, A.; Kreter, A.; Linsmeier, C.; Rieth, M.; Unterberg, B.; Wirtz, M. Thermal Shock and Synergistic Plasma and Heat Load Testing of Powder Injection Molding Tungsten-Based Alloys. J. Nucl. Eng. 2025, 6, 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030025

AMA Style

Gago M, Antusch S, Klein A, Kreter A, Linsmeier C, Rieth M, Unterberg B, Wirtz M. Thermal Shock and Synergistic Plasma and Heat Load Testing of Powder Injection Molding Tungsten-Based Alloys. Journal of Nuclear Engineering. 2025; 6(3):25. https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030025

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gago, Mauricio, Steffen Antusch, Alexander Klein, Arkadi Kreter, Christian Linsmeier, Michael Rieth, Bernhard Unterberg, and Marius Wirtz. 2025. "Thermal Shock and Synergistic Plasma and Heat Load Testing of Powder Injection Molding Tungsten-Based Alloys" Journal of Nuclear Engineering 6, no. 3: 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030025

APA Style

Gago, M., Antusch, S., Klein, A., Kreter, A., Linsmeier, C., Rieth, M., Unterberg, B., & Wirtz, M. (2025). Thermal Shock and Synergistic Plasma and Heat Load Testing of Powder Injection Molding Tungsten-Based Alloys. Journal of Nuclear Engineering, 6(3), 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030025

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