Speedy tungsten needed for faster fusion

[Ivy Matt]

DeltaV on Talk Polywell brought up the following development as a possible solution to the brittleness problem:

A novel, more resilient compound material has now been developed by Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) at Garching. It consists of homogeneous tungsten with coated tungsten wires embedded. A feasibility study has just shown the basic suitability of the new compound.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-05-brittle-material-toughened-tungsten-fibre-reinforced-tungsten.html#jCp

Potential drawbacks I see are availability and cost, and DeltaV suggested that the outside surface should probably be free of fibers to prevent arcing.

[andrewmdodson]

I was thinking about the capabilities of the electron beam forming system deployed at NASA via wire feed and electron beam melting (EB) and then in some commercial systems such as the arcam.com powder feed EBM.

A structure of multiple metals might be created. The thermal conductivity and softness of the BeCu alloy is attractive. It has been used to coat titanium valves, so perhaps a composite structure composed of a titanium skeleton with BeCu filled around it can be laid down via an EBM method. Thermal simulations could determine proper geometries needed…

Thoughts?

EDIT:

at the bottom of this page it is mentioned that EBM can be used to melt CuW onto a copper carrier (in our case BeCu). A tri-layer cathode, titanium skeleton, BeCu mass, and CuW surface layer… http://www.modison.com/copper_tungsten.html

How much heat must be conducted out of a reactor cathode (or anode) per shot?

[Ivy Matt]

I saw this recently on the Talk Polywell forums:

http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/09/02/tungsten-checks-smit-röntgen-unveils-3d-tungsten-printing-technology/

With such useful properties, a number of firms and institutions have begun researching the ability to 3D print objects made from the metal, including ExOne, which partnered with rp+m to develop Tungsten additive manufacturing and CVMR Corporation, which is working to make its own industrial machines to print with Tungsten powders. Philips-owned Smit Röntgen, previously a manufacturer of medical imaging parts, has just broken into the 3D printing industry with their proprietary laser melting process for additively manufacturing Tungsten components.

For LPP’s purposes I believe 3D printing, at least in its present state, doesn’t come close to the precision required for the electrodes. However, I decided to post this here just in case it could be useful.

[Author]

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