The Effect of sintering time on synthesis of plasma sintered beryllides

Kim, Jae-Hwan; Nakamichi, Masaru

Development of advanced neutron multiplier has been started between Japan and EU in the DEMO R&D of the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC) project as a part of the Broader Approach activities. Plasma sintering method has been selected as a synthesis method for beryllides. The formation of BeTi, BeTi and BeTi intermetallics was identified in sintering at 1073-1273 K for 20 min under 50 MPa pressure, using starting mixed powder particles of Be and Ti. The elemental content of Be and Ti in the plasma sintered material decreased by consolidation enhancement with increasing sintering temperature, with only about 2% of the elemental phases remaining in 98% beryllides at 1273 K. This experiment shows that the intermetallic compound beryllides can be directly synthesized by the plasma sintering method at temperature which is lower than the melting point. Since beryllides as neutron multiplier are used at high temperature for a long time, it is considerably important to understand thermal properties of the beryllides. In this report, evaluation of thermal stability of plasma sintered Be-Ti beryllide was carried out.