The influence of irradiation and thermal creep on stress redistribution in fusion blankets

Abstract Creep processes, due to irradiation and thermal fields, have generally been assumed to relax stresses resulting from the loading of structural components. However, in order to determine failure modes and mechanisms, a global inelastic structural analysis is required. We have recently developed the STAIRE computer code to meet this need. This code is based on a modified beam theory for the self-consistent determination of stresses and deflections in beams of circular cross-section. The work is applied to the lifetime analysis of the M irror A dvanced R eactor S tudy (MARS) blanket modules. The objective of the present paper is to assess the global (3-dimensional) impact of both irradiation and thermal creep strains on the stresses resulting from thermal and swelling strains.