| KEYWORD |
Area Engineering
Investigation of the neutron damage expected in superconducting materials in a nuclear fusion reactor
keywords NUCLEAR FUSION, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
Reference persons DANIELE TORSELLO
Research Groups AA - SM-MESH
Thesis type SIMULATIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL
Description Compact fusion reactors require extremely high magnetic fields, achievable only with unconventional superconductors. However the materials need to withstand harsh radiation conditions, and their ability to do so still needs to be investigated. The proposed activity includes the development of models for the simulation of radiation induced damage on superconducting cables in the real working conditions of magnets for thermonuclear fusion, and the experimental characterization of superconducting cables exposed to radiation in order to validate these models. These studies will allow both evaluating the radiation hardness of the materials, and investigating the possibility to optimize their performance in terms of maximum transportable current and generated magnetic field (vortex pinning optimization) via ion irradiation. Both these goals are pivotal for the design and the development of superconducting magnets for fusion plasma confinement, which are capable of reaching the high magnetic induction required for compact high-performance fusion reactors, namely advanced thermonuclear fusion reactors that are necessary to achieve the green transition, finally abandoning fossil fuel generation of energy.
Deadline 04/03/2023
PROPONI LA TUA CANDIDATURA