Radiation effects on the mechanical integrity of novel organic insulators for the ITER magnet coils

High quality glass fiber reinforced composites will be used as electrical insulation systems for the windings of the superconducting magnet coils of the ITER fusion device. Recently, considerable interest in coil technology has focused on improving the radiation hardness of the organic impregnation resins, in order to avoid serious material damage, such as fiber-matrix debonding (delamination). This paper reports on first screening tests of novel cyanate-ester based glass fiber reinforced composites, which were developed especially for ITER-relevant applications. The material behavior was investigated at 77 K prior to and after reactor irradiation to a neutron fluence of 1 x 10(22) m(-2) (E > 0.1 MeV) using the tensile and the short-beam-shear test, respectively. Furthermore, tension-tension fatigue measurements were carried out at low temperatures, in order to assess the mechanical performance under the pulsed operating conditions of ITER. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.