PNNL

Abstract

The use of SiC composites in fusion environments may require joining of plates using reactive joining or brazing. One promising reactive joining method is the use of solid-state displacement reactions between Si and TiC to produce Ti3SiC2 + SiC. We continue to explore the processing envelope for this type of joint for the TITAN collaboration to produce the best possible joints to undergo irradiation studies in HFIR. The TITAN collaboration has designed miniature torsion joints for preparation, testing, and irradiation in HFIR. As part of that project PNNL synthesized 40 miniature torsion joints and several were tested for shear strength prior to irradiation testing in HFIR. The resulting tests indicated that joint fixture alignment problems cause joint strengths to be lower than optimal but that several joints that were well aligned had high shear strengths and promising mechanical properties. High joint strengths cause non-planar shear fracture and complicate strength analysis for these miniature torsion joints.