Evaluation of residual strains produced by LSP and LPB processing applied on W for nuclear fusion applications, by means of NI

Plasma-facing materials (PFM) and components (PFC) are one of the main likely showstoppers for commercial fusion reactors and still unsolved key components for future fusion reactor devices like DEMO (the DEMOnstration power plant). PFCs have to fulfil many specifications, one of which ensures a power handling in the range of 10–20 MWm-2 at the divertor region and a long as possible lifetime. Tungsten has been considered as the most suitable candidate as PFM for the first wall in fusion devices. However, a major concern about tungsten is its ability to handle repetitive transient thermal loads or thermal shocks. We are proposing here a proof-of-concept study that tries to employ innovative surface enhancement techniques such as laser shock peening and low plasticity burnishing processing to generate beneficial compressive residual stresses in order to resist crack initiation on tungsten.