Fusion technology for the production of PbLi eutectic alloys

The development of thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER), whose objective is to produce energy from nuclear fusion, has raised the study of Pb-Li eutectic alloys, as they have been selected for the manufacture of test blanket modules (TBM). However, during the manufacturing process of the Pb-Li alloys, thermal conditions used result in a loss of litium element, which inhibits the formation of eutectic structures. In this work we have done fusion of pure lead and lithium, evaluating different process parameters to obtain Pb-Li (17 at. %) eutectic alloys. The alloys manufactured were characterized by DSC, SEM-EDX and microhardness tests. From these studies we noted that the used of an induction reactor and the process parameters optimized to obtain Pb-Li alloy allow for completely eutectic ingots and high chemical homogeneity and microstructural. (Author) 26 refs.