Exposure of W-TiC/Cu Functionally Graded Materials in the Edge Plasma of HT-7 Tokamak

Six-layered W-TiC/Cu functionally graded materials were fabricated by resistance sintering under ultra-high pressure and exposed in the edge plasma of HT-7 tokamak. Microstructure morphologies show that the TiC particles distribute homogeneously in the W matrix, strengthening the grain boundary, while gradient layers provide a good compositional transition from W-TiC to Cu. After about 360 shots in the HT-7 tokamak, clear surface modification can be observed after plasma exposure, and the addition of nano TiC particles is beneficial to the improvement of plasma loads resistance of W.