Publications
Explosive bonding of 316L to C18150 CuCrZr alloy for ITER applications
Recent developments in the ITER experimental fusion reactor require that a 316L stainless steel substructure be bonded to a precipitation strengthened CuCrZr heat sink alloy, C18150. This bond defines the cooling water pressure boundary. Given the importance of this interface, a variety of experiments with fusion welding and solid-state joining techniques have been performed. Analysis of the joints includes mechanical measurements of bond strength and microstructural analysis using optical and electron microscopy techniques. A particular emphasis was placed on the mechanical properties of the CuCrZr, since it undergoes additional thermal processing and cannot be solutionized and aged hardened per standard heat treatments. It was determined that the explosion bonding, of all the techniques examined, maximized the residual mechanical strength of the CuCrZr. The bonding parameters were optimized to minimize the amount of mixing and porosity at the interface. The details of these results and the optimization will be discussed.