Modeling Accelerated Development of Interface Engineered Tungsten Alloy Plasma Facing Materials

Modeling Accelerated Development of Interface Engineered Tungsten Alloy Plasma Facing Materials Jason R. Trelewicz, Stony Brook University (Principal Investigator) Ian McCue, Northwestern University (Co-Investigator) Deliberate alloying of tungsten in the nanocrystalline state has been shown to enhance stability against recrystallization, thermal grain growth, and irradiation-induced microstructural evolution. Similar alloying additions have also markedly improved crack mitigation in laser additively manufactured (AM) tungsten alloys. Together, these materials form a class of novel interface engineered tungsten alloys, which will be advanced through this research for the fusion environment by optimizing dopant species to stabilize the interfaces during processing and subsequent high temperature operation under fusion relevant conditions.  The team’s multifaceted approach integrates computational alloy design with experimental bulk alloy synthesis, characterization, and simulation-informed property optimization. Traditional sintering routes will be combined with laser AM processing to assess the unique microstructures deriving from each process, their effects on alloy performance, and the potential of AM to enable novel divertor designs for driving surface heat load limits beyond 10 MW/m2. From this research, strategies for stabilizing tungsten through synergistic doping of interfaces will be realized and provide a framework for future alloy optimization enabling enhanced performance metrics, novel divertor designs, and opportunities to validate performance under relevant plasma facing material environments.