Manufacturing of the ITER TF coils radial plates by means of P/M HIP and a hybrid machining center

The fabrication of the ITER radial plates (RPs) is a demanding task, which includes machining and welding. It requires high accuracy with respect to its large size. There are two issues remained: (i) the productivity reduced by the large amount of machining and welding work; and (ii) the tight tolerance. A conventional machining center can be used only when segments and blocks are small. As a solution, this paper presents a method, which improves the final accuracy and increases the productivity. The method combines the powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing (P/M HIP) technology and the mobile parallel kinematics machine system for fabricating the RPs. This paper first introduces the P/M HIP technology and describes the benefits of using the technology in the fabrication of the RPs, and then introduces the mobile machining/welding unit developed (ad hoc) and describes the possible manufacturing process to be used for the production of the radial plates.