Analyzing thermal creep strain of a tokamak first-wall steel

It is widely anticipated that one formulation of ferritic steel, HT9, will be utilized in the fabrication of the first wall of a nuclear fusion (tokamak) reactor. In this respect, the thermal creep behavior of this material is an important consideration in the final selection decision. Using short-term experimental data, relations which describe the dependence of the thermal creep strain of this alloy on the operational parameters (e.g., time, stress and temperature) have been obtained. This allows estimates to be made of the long-term (design) values of the thermal creep strain for any specified combination of operational parameters. © 1990 TMS