LAUSR

For future fusion reactors, tungsten (W) is currently the main candidate for the application as plasma-facing material as it is resilient against erosion, has the highest melting point of any metal, and shows rather benign behavior under neutron irradiation. However, a major concern of W is its intrinsic brittleness under the extreme fusion environment with high transient heat loads and neutron irradiation. Cracks could be formed and lead to a component failure. To overcome this drawback, W fiberreinforced W (Wf/W) composites have been developed. Relying on an extrinsic toughening principle, even in the brittle regime, this material allows for a certain tolerance toward cracking and damage in general in comparison to conventional W. In general, similar to the ceramic fiber-reinforced composites, a relatively weak interface between the fiber and the matrix is considered to be beneficial to achieve the so-called pseudoductility. In previous studies, the Wf/Wmaterial is mainly produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. However, powder metallurgy (PM) processes are the main manufacturing routes to produce W material in industry. Compared with the CVD process, PM processes have several benefits, such as substantial experience with bulk production, higher production rate, and an easier realization of alloyed materials. In recent studies,