Design and manufacture of an oven for high temperature experiments of erosion-corrosion of SiCf/SiC into LiPb

SIC composites are studied as structural and functional materials in the designs of DEMO liquid blankets and their applications are foreseen also for the test blanket modules of ITER. Among the chemical-physical characteristics to be studied, the assessment of the erosion and corrosion of the SiC composites in liquid blanket (lithium-lead) is of main importance in order to verify the stability of these materials under the operating conditions typical of fusion power reactors. In the framework of the Broader Approach research activities, an experiment with a relative velocity between the SiC composite specimen and the lithium-lead of 0.1-0.5 ms(-1) at temperature of 1000 degrees C has been planned. The experimental setup mainly consists of a high temperature oven wherein the SiC specimen is rotating into a lithium-lead bath. The experimental plan foresees the chemical analysis of the lithium-lead before and after exposure and the post exposure examination of the SiC composite samples in order to study the behavior of both fibers and interphase. The design of the experimental device has considered the compatibility of the materials used at high temperature: in this view, a preliminary test campaign has been carried out at ENEA laboratories on SiCf-SiC samples obtained via chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) of Tyranno SA fibers. In this paper, the results of the preliminary tests and the design of the experimental apparatus are described in details as well as the status of its construction. (C) 2013 Euratom-ENEA Association sulla Fusione. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.