Impact of material system thermomechanics and thermofluid performance on He-cooled ceramic breeder blanket designs with SiCf/SiC

This paper presents results from a recent effort initiated under the JUPITER-II collaborative program for high temperature gas-cooled blanket systems using SiCf /SiC as a structural material. Current emphasis is to address issues associated with the function of the helium gas considered in the DREAM and ARIES-I concepts by performing thermomechanical and thermofluid analysis. The objective of the analysis is to guide future research focus for a task in the project. It is found that the DREAM concept has the advantage of achieving uniform temperature without threatening blanket pebble bed integrity by differential thermal stress. However, its superiority needs to be further justified by investigating the feasibility and economic issues involved in the tritium extraction technology. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.