Neutronic study on the effect of first wall material thickness on tritium production and material damage in a fusion reactor

In this study,the effects of changing first wall materials and their thicknesses on a reactor were investigated to determine the displacement per atom(DPA)and gas production(helium and hydrogen)in the first wall,as well as the tritium breeding ratio(TBR)in the coolant and tritium breeding zones.Therefore,the modeling of the magnetic fusion reactor was determined based on the blanket parameters of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER).Stainless steel(SS 316 LNIG),Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steel alloy(PM2000 ODS),and China low-activation martensitic steel(CLAM)were used as the first wall(FW)materials.Fluoride family molten salt materials(FLiBe,FLiNaBe,FLiPb)and lithium oxide(LiO_(2))were considered the coolant and tritium production material in the blanket,respectively.Neutron transport calculations were performed using the wellknown 3D code MCNP5 using the continuous-energy Monte Carlo method.The built-in continuous energy nuclear and atomic data libraries along with the Evaluated Nuclear Data file(ENDF)system(ENDF/B-V and ENDF/B-VI)were used.Additionally,the activity cross-section data library CLAW-IV was used to evaluate both the DPA values and gas production of the first wall(FW)materials.An interface computer program written in the FORTRAN 90 language to evaluate the MCNP5 outputs was developed for the fusion reactor blanket.The results indicated that the best TBR value was obtained for the use of the FLiPb coolant,whereas depending on the thickness,the first wall replacement period in terms of radiation damage to all materials was between 6 and 11 years.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of the Material Damage Induced in Sheet Metal Forming Process on the Service Performance of 22MnB5 Steel

The use of ultra-high strength steels through sheet metal forming process offers a practical solution to the lightweight design of vehicles.However,sheet metal forming process not only produces desirable changes in material properties but also causes material damage that may adversely influence the service performance of the material formed.Thus,an investigation is conducted to experimentally quantify such influence for a commonly used steel（the 22MnB5 steel） based on the hot and cold forming processes.For each process,a number of samples are used to conduct a uniaxial tensile test to simulate the forming process.After that,some of the samples are trimmed into a standard shape and then uniaxially extended until fracture to simulate the service stage.Finally,a microstructure test is conducted to analyze the microdefects of the remaining samples.Based on the results of the first two tests,the effect of material damage on the service performance of 22MnB5 steel is analyzed.It is found that the material damages of both the hot and cold forming processes cause reductions in the service performance,such as the failure strain,the ultimate stress,the capacity of energy absorption and the ratio of residual strain.The reductions are generally lower and non-linear in the former process but higher and linear in the latter process.Additionally,it is found from the microstructure analysis that the difference in the reductions of the service performance of 22MnB5 by the two forming processes is driven by the difference in the micro damage mechanisms of the two processes.The findings of this research provide a useful reference in terms of the selection of sheet metal forming processes and the determination of forming parameters for 22MnB5.

CONSTITUTIVE POTENTIAL FOR DUCTILE DAMAGED MATERIAL AND VOID GROWTH RATE

In this paper a general formula for plastic potential including isotropic ductile damage has been present ed on the basis of the thermodynamics for irreversible process and internal variable the- ory.With this formula the mass conservation law is satisfied and it also contains a series of unknow coefficients which are the function of macro equivalent stress and the average micro equivalent stress and an unknown function which is the function of two generalized forces. The approximate yield surface equation for isotropically damaged materials is developed.Using this equation the void growth rate is calculated for nonlinear material containing voids.The present re- sults are in good agreement with the numerical results given by the cell model.

Numerical simulation of strain localization and damage evolution in large plastic deformation using mixed finite element method

An investigation of computer simulation is presented to analyze the effectsof strain localization and damage evolution in large plastic deformation. The simulation is carriedout by using an elastic-plastic-damage coupling finite element program that is developed based onthe concept of mixed interpolation of displacement/pressure. This program has been incorporated intoa damage mechanics model as well as the corresponding damage criterion. To illustrate theperformance of the proposed approach, a typical strain localization problem has been simulated. Theresults show that the proposed approach is of good capability to capture strain localization andpredict the damage evolution.

GENERALIZED VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR VISCOELASTIC THIN AND THICK PLATES WITH DAMAGE

From the constitutive model with generalized force fields for a viscoelastic body with damage, the differential equations of motion for thin and thick plates with damage are derived under arbitrary boundary conditions. The convolution-type functionals for the bending of viscoelastic thin and thick plates with damage are presented, and the corresponding generalized variational principles are given. From these generalized principles, all the basic equations of the displacement and damage variables and initial and boundary conditions can be deduced. As an example, we compare the difference between the dynamical properties of plates with and without damage and consider the effect of damage on the dynamical properties of plates.

Damage prediction of 7025 aluminum alloy during equal-channel angular pressing

Equal-channel angular pressing （ECAP） is a prominent technique that imposes severe plastic deformation into materials to en- hance their mechanical properties. In this research, experimental and numerical approaches were utilized to investigate the mechanical prop- erties, strain behavior, and damage prediction of ECAPed 7025 aluminum alloy in various conditions, such as die channel angle, outer comer angle, and friction coefficient. Experimental results indicate that, after the first pass, the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and hardness magnitude are improved by approximately 95%, 28%, and 48.5%, respectively, compared with the annealed state, mainly due to grain re- finement during the deformation. Finite element analysis shows that the influence of die channel angle is more important than that of outer comer angle or friction coefficient on both the strain behavior and the damage prediction. Also, surface cracks are the main cause of damage during the ECAP process for every die channel angle except for 90°; however, the cracks initiated from the neighborhood of the central re- gions are the possible cause of damage in the ECAPed sample with the die channel angle of 90°.

Multi-scale elastoplastic mechanical model and microstructure damage analysis of solid expandable tubular

We present an in-depth study of the failure phenomenon of solid expandable tubular (SET) due to large expansion ratio in open holes of deep and ultra-deep wells. By examining the post-expansion SET, lots of microcracks are found on the inner surface of SET. Their morphology and parameters such as length and depth are investigated by use of metallographic microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, the Voronoi cell technique is adopted to characterize the multi-phase material microstructure of the SET. By using the anisotropic elastoplastic material constitutive model and macro/microscopic multi-dimensional cross-scale coupled boundary conditions, a sophisticated and multi-scale finite element model (FEM) of the SET is built successfully to simulate the material microstructure damage for different expansion ratios. The microcrack initiation and growth is simulated, and the structural integrity of the SET is discussed. It is concluded that this multi-scale finite element modeling method could effectively predict the elastoplastic deformation and the microscopic damage initiation and evolution of the SET. It is of great significance as a theoretical analysis tool to optimize the selection of appropriate tubular materials and it could be also used to substantially reduce costly failures of expandable tubulars in the field. This numerical analysis is not only beneficial for understanding the damage process of tubular materials but also effectively guides the engineering application of the SET technology.

Ballistic Performance and Damage Characteristics of Chemical Vapor Infiltration Quasi 3D-Cf/SiC Composites

To investigate the ballistic performance and damage characteristics of quasi threedimensional（3D） needle-punched Cf/SiC composites prepared by chemical vapor infiltration（CVI）,penetration experiments were conducted by using 7.62 mm armor piercing incendiary（API）.Macro and micro fracture morphologies were then observed on recycled targets.The results show that the protection coefficient of 3D Cf/SiC composites is 2.54.High porosity and many micro thermal stress cracks may directly lead to the lower ballistic performance.Flat fracture morphology was observed on the crater surface.The low dynamic fracture strength along layer direction may be attributed to the voids and microcracks caused by residual thermal stress.The damage characteristics of Cf/Si C composites include matrix cracking,fiber bundle cracking,interfacial debonding,fiber fracture,and fiber bundle pull-out.And interfacial debonding and fiber fracture may play major roles in energy absorption.

THE REMAINING LIFE EVALUATION BASED ON THE STRAIN RANGE PARTITIONING APPROACH

The two procedures based on the strain range partitioning approach are proposed for evaluating the remaining life by measuring the surface crack length. Both the procedures require that the material parameters describing the creepfatigue damage rule built and modified by the s and the strain waveform applied have been clarified before the evaluation. One of the procedures can be used only when the total number of the operation cycles n are known, whereas the other is useful even when n is unknown, though it needs the additional crack length measurement. In the latter the surface crack length must be measured not only at n but also at n+n, where n is a given interval of cycles. The results of their application to Mod.9Cr1Mo and 316LC steel smooth specimens subjected to the IJ type creepfatigue loading are shown.

Bioinspired design of hybrid composite materials

Mimicking the natural design motifs of structural biological materials is a promising approach to achieve a unique combination of strength and toughness for engineering materials.In this study,we proposed a 2D computational model,which is a two-hierarchy hybrid composite inspired by the ultrastructural features of bone.The model is composed of alternating parallel array of two subunits(A&B)mimicking‘mineralized collagen fibril’and‘extrafibrillar matrix’of bone at ultrastructural level.The subunit-A is formed by short stiff platelets embedded within a soft matrix.The subunit-B consists of randomly distributed stiff grains bonded by a thin layer of tough adhesive phase.To assess the performance of the bioinspired design,a conventional unidirectional long-fiber composite made with the same amount of hard and soft phases was studied.The finite element simulation results indicated that the toughness,strength and elastic modulus of the bioinspired composite was 312%,83%,and 55%of that of the conventional composite,respectively.The toughness improvement was attributed to the prevalent energy-dissipating damage of adhesive phase in subunit-B and crack-bridging by subunit-A,the two major toughening mechanisms in the model.This study exemplifies some insights into natural design of materials to gain better material performance.