Design, materials and R&D issues of innovative thermal contact joints for high heat flux applications

Plasma facing components in fusion machines are designed with a layer of sacrificial armour material facing the plasma and a high-conductivity material in contact with the coolant. One of the most critical issues associated with making the proposed design concept work, from a power handling point of view, is achieving the necessary contact conductance between the armour and the heat sink. aper presents a novel idea for the interface joint between the sacrificial armour and the actively cooled permanent heat sink. It consists of a thermal bond layer of a binary or more complex alloy, treated in the semi-solid region in such a way as to lead to a fine dispersion of a globular solid phase into a liquid matrix (rheocast process). The alloy in this “mushy state” exhibits a time-dependent, shear rate-dependent viscosity, which is maintained reversibly when the material is solidified and heated again in the semi-solid state. The function of the thermal bond layer is to facilitate heat transfer between the replaceable armour and the permanent heat sink without building up excessive thermal stresses, as in conventional brazed joints, and allow an easy replacement whenever needed without disturbing the coolant system. No contact pressure is required in this case to provide the desired heat transfer conductance, and the reversible thixotropic properties of the rheocast material should guarantee the stability of the layer in the semi-solid conditions. sign, material and testing issues are identified and discussed in this paper with emphasis on specific needs for future research and development work. Examples of suitable material options which are being considered are reported together with some initial heat transfer analysis results.