Brittle Destruction of Carbon Based Materials

Abstract

Erosion mechanisms for different carbon based materials (graphite, carbon fiber composites (CFCs), Si-doped CFC) have been studied under brittle destruction under intense transient thermal loads (ELMs, plasma disruptions, VDEs) with respect to material erosion in different particle emission regimes, characterization of emitted particles, and behavior of preheated samples. Furthermore, the experimental data were compared with 3-D numerical simulation on the onset of brittle destruction. From a morphological point of view, the resulting erosion patterns on the test samples and ejected particles differ significantly for the three materials. The isotropic graphite shows a homogeneous erosion profile with flat craters, while the CFC forms no crater and only preferential erosion in localized spots in the PAN fiber area while the pitch fiber strands remain almost undamaged. The particles originating from graphite samples which have been collected on TEM grids are composed of nano sized amorphous carbon. CFCs have been the source for sub µm sized agglomerated fragments of crystalline carbon or silicon particles with ~50 nm diameter. Preheating of the test samples to 500 or 800°C results in a remarkable increase of the erosion depth and weight loss compared to the samples loaded at room temperature and identical heat fluxes. In particular, melting phenomena in the Si-doped CFC materials became essential at elevated temperatures.