Metal fiber reinforced composites for compact tritium breeding

Abstract Sustained thermonuclear fusion reactors provide some of the most extreme material demands of any technology, featuring plasma facing components that must withstand energetic plasma excursions and superconducting magnets operating at cryogenic temperatures in relativistic neutron fluxes. The breeding blanket is the material system bridging these extremes, which must simultaneously transmute lithium into tritium to sustain the fuel cycle, shield superconducting magnets from neutron damage, and harvest the energy from those neutrons to produce power. This work uses advanced manufacturing methods to synthesize a novel fiber-reinforced, ceramic-metal system that is better able to meet these three primary functions of tritium breeding systems. Electric field assisted sintering is used to consolidate mixtures of lithium oxide powder, iron powder, and stainless-steel fibers into solid pellets for characterization. Helium pycnometry, mechanical testing, X-ray computed tomography, and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy are used to evaluate the properties and performance of the specimens. Results are compared to other solid tritium breeding materials and discussed in the context of thermonuclear power generation.