Plasma-sprayed coatings for fusion reactor applications

A series of plasma-sprayed coatings has been given a preliminary evaluation to assess the potential of this class of materials in fusion reactor applications. TiC, TiB2, beryllium and VBe12 coatings on copper and stainless steel (SS) were tested for coating adherence, ion erosion resistance and susceptibility to arc erosion. The coatings, in general, display a good resistance to thermal shock failure. The TiC and TiB2 coatings exhibit favorable ion erosion characteristics and the resistance of the coatings to arc erosion was, in general, superior to that of SS.