Thermal performance of a fusion power heat exchange component was investigated.
•
Microstructures effecting performance were determined using X-ray tomography.
•
This data was used to perform a microstructurally faithful finite element analysis.
•
FEA demonstrated that manufacturing defects had an appreciable effect on performance.
•
This image-based modelling showed which regions could be targeted for improvements.
Abstract
The thermal performance of a carbon fibre composite-copper monoblock, a sub-component of a fusion reactor divertor, was investigated by finite element analysis. High-accuracy simulations were created using an emerging technique, image-based finite element modelling, which converts X-ray tomography data into micro-structurally faithful models, capturing details such as manufacturing defects. For validation, a case study was performed where the thermal analysis by laser flash of a carbon fibre composite-copper disc was simulated such that computational and experimental results could be compared directly. Results showed that a high resolution image-based simulation (102 million elements of 32 μm width) provided increased accuracy over a low resolution image-based simulation (0.6 million elements of 194 μm width) and idealised computer aided design simulations. Using this technique to analyse a monoblock mock-up, it was possible to detect and quantify the effects of debonding regions at the carbon fibre composite-copper interface likely to impact both component performance and expected lifetime. These features would not have been accounted for in idealised computer aided design simulations.