Neutron and gamma ray irradiation effects on interlaminar shear strength of insulation materials with cyanate ester–epoxy blended resin

A large scale fusion device like ITER requires high performance electric insulation materials against gamma ray and neutron irradiation, since fusion neutrons will reach superconducting magnets and activate them. Cyanate ester resin has been studied as a strong candidate for a new insulation material for fusion devices, and it has been clarified that the blended resin with epoxy has a potential to survive a design period in the radiation environment. This paper describes the results of molecular structure analysis of the blended resin, heat flux measurements by differential scanning calorimetry and the gamma ray and the fission neutron irradiation effects on interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) at 77 K. The gamma ray irradiation of 10 MGy did not change the ILSS significantly, but the neutron fluence of 1.0 × 1022 n/m2 (>0.1 MeV) with over 400 MGy degraded the ILSS. It suggests that cyanurate (triagine ring) will have a resistance against irradiation but oxazolidinon will lose the resistance after heavy irradiation.