Morphological damage to tungsten eroded by abrasive water jet

Abstract

Abrasive water jet is a promising method for processing rolled tungsten plates, which are considered the most promising plasma-facing material in fusion devices. To investigate the erosion of tungsten due to the abrasive water jet, we conducted erosion tests and numerical simulations. We examined the morphological characteristics of the tungsten erosion damage. An erosion model was developed by coupling smoothed-particle hydrodynamics with the finite-element method to simulate tungsten erosion. The mechanism behind the morphological damage characteristics of tungsten was analyzed. Our findings reveal that as erosion depth increases, the kinetic energy of the abrasive particles decreases while the erosion angle increases. The erosion damage to tungsten transitions from brittle fracture induced by microcutting and microplowing to impact deformation. As a result, the erosion section's morphology deteriorates, exhibiting strips from the cutting process, increasing both the trailing angle and surface roughness. The morphological damage characteristics of tungsten are intricately linked to the abrasive particles' motion. Therefore, by altering the motion characteristics of these particles, the erosion section's quality can be enhanced. This research offers valuable insights for enhancing the quality of tungsten sections processed by abrasive water jets in fusion devices.