Fabrication and evaluation of SiC/Cu functionally graded material used for plasma facing components in a fusion reactor

A new SiC/Cu functionally graded material that contains a spectrum of 0–100% compositional distributions of SiC used for plasma facing component was proposed and fabricated by a novel process termed graded sintering under ultra-high pressure, by which a near dense graded composite has been successfully obtained. Tests on plasma relevant performances showed that in SiC/Cu graded composite the CD4 production due to chemical sputtering is 85% lower than that of SMF800 nuclear graphite, while its thermal desorption is about 10% of that graphite; fatigue cracks and chemical decomposition were found on the surface of SiC/Cu FGM after 300 cyclic impacts of laser pulse with power density of 398 MW/m2; slight damage was also observed on the material surface after in situ plasma irradiation in a Tokamak facility.