LCF assessment on heat shield components of nuclear fusion experiment “Wendelstein 7-X” by critical plane criteria

Abstract

The Wendelstein 7-X modular advanced stellarator has started operations at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, in 2016. In the first phase, the machine operated restricting the plasma pulses to low power and short lengths. Plans to achieve actively cooled components are scheduled to start in 2020 when the machine will operate in steady-state at full power. FEM simulations for steady-state operations revealed high plastic strains at several locations, for most of all the rigidly supported Plasma Facing Components; therefore, there is the risk of a premature fatigue failure before the end of the scheduled operations of the machine. The aim of this study is to analyse, by means of the commercial code ABAQUS, the behavior of such critical components estimating, eventually, their fatigue life by means of the commercial code fe-safe