Mechanical testing of the ITER vacuum vessel support structure – coating screening tests and high load multi-axial Mock Up tests

The ITER vacuum vessel support structure is composed of nine circumferentially distributed hinges which have to comply with the gravity and multi-axial disruption loads in the MN range but also allow a radial expansion of the vacuum vessel during bake-out and operation. In a first test campaign under thermal vacuum conditions (200 °C, 1e−6 mbar) and under a load of up to 770 kN the coating and material for the hinges have been selected. A 1/3rd downscaled Mock Up has been designed, analyzed by FEM and manufactured. First tests to verify the gravity load (1.7 MN) and radial expansion (simulated by rotation of the dowel) have been performed successfully. Now a two-axis load test for verifying the most significant VDE loading is going to be performed. For this high load mechanical tests, a special test rig has been developed with a capability of 5 MN vertical and 2 MN toroidal loads.