Mechanical strength of neutron-irradiated window materials

Highly specialised window materials considered for transmission lines in plasma heating and diagnostic systems in nuclear fusion reactors were studied in terms of mechanical strength properties and potential radiation effects introduced by neutron irradiation up to 1021 n/m2 (E>0.1 MeV). Small disks of CVD diamond cut from model windows for high power transmission and from rods of a special fused silica grade (KU1) with radiation-hard optical properties were tested together with disks of commercially available high quality silica grades. Based on a biaxial mechanical test method, the influence of specimen machining could be kept under special control. The results obtained for CVD diamond clearly indicate that median strength values of 400 MPa and high Weibull moduli of 20 can be maintained with structural damage introduced at 10−4 dpa. For high quality silica grades, median strength levels of 300 MPa were reached in the test geometries applied. However, they tend to be very sensitive to changes in the surface quality. Median values of about 120 MPa and Weibull moduli of 10 can be taken for conservative strength evaluations for spontaneous failure.