Analysis and experimental justification of electrical connector for ITER blanket module

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2017-11, Vol.124, p.516-521
• Main Authors: Poddubnyi, I., Kolganov, V., Elkin, V., Khomiakov, S., Danilov, I., Strebkov, Yu, Kirillov, S., Parshutin, E., Skladnov, K., Mitin, D., Putrik, A., Romannikov, A., Egorov, K., Chappuis, Ph, Sadakov, S., Calcagno, B., Raffray, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blanket module; Computer simulation; Connectors; Crack propagation; Damage accumulation; Electric connectors; Electric currents; Electric discharge machining; Electrical current; Electrical strap; Electro-magnetic force; Electromagnetics; Fatigue failure; Finite element analysis; Heating; High vacuum; Mechanical tests; Ohmic dissipation; Straps; Structural design; Structural design criteria; Thermal cycling
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2017.05.014

•The design of the ES made of solid blank has been developed in NIKIET.•The ES temperature has been calculated for different ITER operation modes: Inductive I and for events category II and III.•The strength assessment showed that design of the ES made of solid blank satisfies the ITER strength requirements.•NIKIET has developed and produced real prototypes of ES which have been tested in mechanical test.•Cyclic mechanical testing at temperatures 270°C confirmed theworkability of the design. In ITER blanket system, electrical connectors (“E–straps”, ES) are used to form a low impedance electrical path from shield blocks (SB) to the vacuum vessel (VV). Main functions of ES is providing current from SB to VV. ES shall withstand electromagnetic (EM) loads and Joule heating resulted from electrical current with magnitude up to 137kA during 300ms, accommodate cyclic relative displacements SB-to-VV and operate in harsh environment: neutron radiation, thermal cycling and high vacuum. Manufacturing of the ES from one solid blank by electrical discharge machining (EDM) has been developed and proposed by NIKIET instead of the assembling from separate parts. This paper presents design and analyses efforts applied on development of ES made of solid blank. Patterns of temperature, EM loads and stress-strain state, accumulated fatigue damages have been found with numerical simulations for all specified loading conditions. Strength assessment shows that current design of ES meets the applicable design code: structural design criteria for in-vessel components (SDC-IC). Results of cyclic mechanical tests at temperature are presented in this paper.