Performance of beryllium, carbon, and tungsten under intense thermal fluxes

Transient heat loads on a millisecond timescale with deposited energy densities beyond 1 MJ m(-2) have been simulated in a plasma accelerator facility (VIKA) and in two high power electron beam teststands (JUDITPH, JEBIS). Main objective of these experiments was to study and to compare the behaviour of different plasma facing materials (Be, CFC, W) under heat loads which occur during disruptions in future thermonuclear fusion reactors such as ITER. In these tests special attention was paid to the thermal shock resistance, the processes during melt layer formation, and the resulting material erosion, To perform these tests specific lending techniques and diagnostics have been developed and applied, Among these are high heat flux loading experiments at elevated temperatures (T > DBTT) of the test coupons, fast surface pyrometry, and reliable techniques for the quantification of the absorbed energy.