Correlation study on tensile properties of Cu, CuCrZr and W by small punch test and uniaxial tensile test

Abstract

Cu, CuCrZr alloy and W are three typical materials used in the plasma-facing components of fusion reactors, whose mechanical properties vary significantly. The small punch test (SPT) is used to evaluate the mechanical properties for materials in the nuclear industry due to its advantage of requiring minimal sample volumes. In this paper, the correlation between SPT and uniaxial tensile testing (UTT) is investigated for Cu, CuCrZr alloy and W. From the views of mechanical properties and fracture morphologies, materials demonstrate consistent behaviours between SPT and UTT, which proves that the SPT is an effective method to characterize the mechanical properties and fracture mechanism of Cu, CuCrZr alloy and W. Moreover, the finite element simulation results of SPT for five other copper alloys with different mechanical properties are added to establish the correlation equations of mechanical properties between SPT and UTT. One unified correlation equation between SPT and UTT can be established for the ductile materials, even if with largely different mechanical properties. However, the introduction of a brittle material W invalidates the correlation equation. This work provides a prospect of SPT to study the mechanical properties of materials used in plasma-facing components.