Cermet coating tribological behavior in high temperature helium

As the CEA is highly involved in the Generation IV Forum, a comprehensive research and development program has been conducted for several years, in order to establish the feasibility of Gas Cooled Reactor (GCR) technology projects using helium as a cooling fluid. Within this framework, a tribology program was launched in order to select and qualify coatings and materials, and to provide recommendations for the sliding components operating in GCRs. The purpose of this paper is to describe the CEA Helium tribology study on several GCR components (thermal barriers, control rod drive mechanisms, reactor internals, ..) requiring protection against wear and bonding. Tests in helium atmosphere are necessary to be fully representative of tribological environments and to assess the material or coating candidates which can provide a reliable answer to these situations. This paper focuses on the tribology tests performed on CERMET (Cr3C-2- NiCr) coatings within a temperature range of between 800 and 1000 deg C