Qualification of the insulation system of the TF coils using cyanate ester blends as thermoset from the two available sources

01.01.2009 - 31.12.2011
Research funding project
The results of preceding and current EFDA Technology Tasks on the radiation effects on ITER fusion magnet insulation systems (RADEFF, RESIN, ADINS & BLEND contracts) demonstrate that the mechanical properties of epoxy/cyanate ester resin blends will sustain the ITER design fluence of 1022 m-2 fast neutrons (E>0.1 MeV) with a sufficient safety margin - i.e. retain an acceptably high mechanical strength at a neutron fluence of 2x1022 m-2 - over the plant lifetime, particularly with regard to their fatigue performance over 104 to 105 cycles. In the ADINS and BLEND contracts, various epoxy/cyanate ester blends supplied by Huntsman were investigated and the composition of the blend parameters optimized. As a result, the resin system of the ITER TF coils was specified in the final report of the RESPEC contract. Besides the EU research group at ATI, considerable progress with developing radiation hard cyanate ester based insulation systems was also achieved by US industry, i.e. CTD, Boulder, USA. Searching for the ¿best¿ material for the TF coil insulation, a comparison of the Huntsman and CTD resin data bases revealed severe deviations and differences with respect to some aspects, which are not unexpected because of substantial differences in the material composition, such as the type of glass fibers, the type of reinforcement, the glass fiber content, the type of kapton film, the mixture of the blend, and possibly the resin supplier. Based on the ITER specification of the TF coil insulation (RESPEC task), comparable insulation samples shall be manufactured by Huntsman and CTD with the 40/60 cyanate ester/epoxy blend system based on the Co-catalyst, in order to check for the best radiation hardness and mechanical material performance. With this program a unified data base will be created by comparing products from different industrial suppliers, with the positive side effect of making the ITER TF coil manufacture less dependent of just one supplier.

People

Project leader

Project personnel

Institute

Grant funds

  • European Commission (EU) Other EU Research Initiative European Commission Application number ITER/CT/09/4100000732

Research focus

  • Non-metallic Materials: 50%
  • Sustainable Production and Technologies: 50%

Keywords

GermanEnglish
Magnetisolationmagnet insulation
Supraleitende FusionsmagneteSuperconducting fusion magnets

Publications