Tungsten and Refractory Alloys for Fusion Plasma Facing Components

Tungsten and Refractory Alloys for Fusion Plasma Facing Components

This community investigates the structural integrity and surface behavior of refractory metals, primarily tungsten and its alloys, when exposed to the extreme thermal and particle loads of fusion reactor environments.

The work centers on understanding how these materials deform, fracture, and erode under neutron and ion irradiation, with a specific focus on helium bubble formation and deuterium retention. Researchers employ molecular dynamics simulations and laser-based additive manufacturing to engineer microstructures that resist these degradation mechanisms. The research also covers the mechanical behavior of related refractory elements like molybdenum and beryllium, as well as the development of high-entropy alloys and oxide-dispersed variants designed to withstand high-temperature oxidation and radiation damage.

The largest share of the community's output is found in tungsten research, accounting for 14.9% of all tracked tungsten literature, with 5,304 papers in this group. Beryllium research also represents a significant portion, comprising 15.8% of that element's tracked literature.

The community comprises 17,660 papers, publishing most frequently in the Journal of Nuclear Materials, Fusion Engineering and Design, and Nuclear Fusion. Recent work continues to focus on the radiation resistance of tungsten high-entropy alloys, the suppression of helium damage in ceramics, and the design of tritium processing systems for next-generation fusion power plants.

Papers behind this description

• Binder jetting additive manufacturing of a 95W-3.5Ni-1.5Fe tungsten heavy alloy: Enhanced ductility and dynamic deformation mechanisms — Materials Science and Engineering A, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.msea.2025.148719
• Bayesian Optimized Deep Ensemble for Uncertainty Quantification of Deep Neural Networks: a System Safety Case Study on Sodium Fast Reactor Thermal Stratification Modeling — Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.ress.2025.111353
• Nanoscale Strain Evolution and Grain Boundary-Mediated Defect Sink Behavior in Irradiated SiC: Insights from N-PED and DFT — Acta Materialia, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2025.121739
• A review on additive manufacturing of refractory tungsten and tungsten alloys — Additive manufacturing, 2022 — doi:10.1016/j.addma.2022.103009
• Effect of Si addition on the oxidation of a 12Cr1Al ODS alloy in liquid LBE — Progress in Nuclear Energy, 2026 — doi:10.1016/j.pnucene.2025.106226
• Laser-based additive manufacturing of refractory metals and their alloys: A review — Additive manufacturing, 2024 — doi:10.1016/j.addma.2024.104464
• Revealing the room temperature superplasticity in bulk recrystallized molybdenum — Nature Communications, 2023 — doi:10.1038/s41467-023-44056-7
• Hierarchical microstructures enabled excellent low-temperature strength-ductility synergy in bulk pure tungsten — Acta Materialia, 2022 — doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2022.117765
• Multi-objective, multi-constraint high-throughput design, synthesis, and characterization of tungsten-containing refractory multi-principal element alloys — Acta Materialia, 2024 — doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2024.120379
• Design of high-performance molybdenum alloys via doping metal oxide and carbide strengthening: A review — Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 2023 — doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2023.03.026
• Laser based additive manufacturing of tungsten: Multi-scale thermo-kinetic and thermo-mechanical computational model and experiments — Acta Materialia, 2023 — doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119244
• WEST full tungsten operation with an ITER grade divertor — Nuclear Fusion, 2024 — doi:10.1088/1741-4326/ad64e5
• A ductile chromium–molybdenum alloy resistant to high-temperature oxidation — Nature, 2025 — doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09516-8
• Power and particle exhaust in the ST-E1 fusion power plant — Nuclear Fusion, 2026 — doi:10.1088/1741-4326/ae70a0
• Physics basis for the reference flat-top plasma scenario in the ST–E1 fusion power plant — Nuclear Fusion, 2026 — doi:10.1088/1741-4326/ae5f33
• Comparative study on radiation resistance of WTaCrV high-entropy alloy and tungsten in helium-containing conditions — Scientific Reports, 2025 — doi:10.1038/s41598-025-19080-w
• Research on sensitivity of strain rate in ultrasonic elliptical vibration cutting of tungsten alloys — Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.10.073
• Diagnostics: Chapter 8 of the special issue: on the path to tokamak burning plasma operation — Nuclear Fusion, 2025 — doi:10.1088/1741-4326/adfc7c