Effect of neutron irradiation on fracture toughness behaviour of copper alloys

One of the most important factors in deciding about the applicability of materials in the structural components of ITER, is the effect of neutron irradiation on the fracture toughness behaviour of these materials. In the present work, the fracture toughness properties of two candidate materials for the first wall and divertor components of ITER, namely precipitation hardened CuCrZr and dispersion hardened CuAl25 alloys, have been studied in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions. In parallel, tensile properties of these alloys have been also investigated in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.