Hot radial pressing: An alternative technique for the manufacturing of plasma-facing components

The Hot radial pressing (HRP) manufacturing technique is based on the radial diffusion bonding principle performed between the cooling tube and the armour tile. The bonding is achieved by pressurizing the cooling tube while the joining interface is kept at the vacuum and temperature conditions. echnique has been used for the manufacturing of relevant mock-ups of the ITER divertor vertical target. Tungsten monoblock mock-ups were successfully tested to high heat flux thermal fatigue (20 MW/m2 of absorbed heat flux for 1000 cycles). these good results the activity is now focused on the developing of a manufacturing process suitable also for the CFC monoblock mock-ups. alculation was performed to investigate the stress involved in the CFC tiles during the process and to avoid the CFC fracture. sults obtained by the FE calculation and by the test performed in air simulating a HRP manufacturing process for a CFC monoblock mock-ups is reported in the paper.