Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 10861090

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Fusion Engineering and Design
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Underwater explosive welding of tungsten to reduced-activation
ferritic steel F82H
Daichi Mori
a
, Ryuta Kasada
a,
, Satoshi Konishi
a
, Yasuhiro Morizono
b
,
Kazuyuki Hokamoto
c
a
Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
b
Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
c
Institute of Pulsed Power Science, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
h i g h l i g h t s

The underwater explosive welding was successfully applied in the joining of tungsten to F82H reduced activation ferritic steel.

Microstructure of the interface showed the formation of a wave-like interface with a thin mixed layer of tungsten and F82H.

Nanoindentation hardness results exhibited a gradual change away from the welded interface without hardened layer.

Small punch tests on the welded specimens resulted in the cracking at a center of tungsten followed by the interfacial cracking.
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 9 September 2013
Received in revised form
14 December 2013
Accepted 17 December 2013
Available online 14 January 2014
Keywords:
Blanket rst wall
Divertor
Underwater explosive welding
Tungsten
Reduced-activation ferritic steel
a b s t r a c t
The present study reports the underwater explosive welding of commercially pure tungsten onto the sur-
face of a reduced-activation ferritic steel F82H plate. Cross-sectional observation revealed the formation
of a wave-like interface, consisting of a thin mixed layer of W and F82H. The results of nanoindentation
hardness testing identied a gradual progressive change in the interface, with no hardened or brittle
layer being observed. Small punch tests on the welded specimens resulted in cracking at the center of
the tungsten, followed by crack propagation toward both the tungsten surface and the tungsten/steel
interface.
Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Plasma facing components based on tungsten-coated reduced-
activation ferritic (RAF) steels are a key aspect to the realization of
fusion-based nuclear reactors; as such, these components are able
to withstand the severe environment created by energetic parti-
cle irradiation at high temperatures [1]. Various coating/welding
technologies have therefore been examined, including: diffusion
bonding [2], spark plasma sintering [3], and vacuumplasma spray-
ing [4]. However, there are still concerns that the mechanical
properties in the vicinity of the bonding interface may deteriorate
during processing or operation, due to the thermal stress induced

Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 774 38 3431; fax: +81 774 38 3439.
E-mail address: r-kasada@iae.kyoto-u.ac.jp (R. Kasada).
by the difference in the coefcients of thermal expansion (CTE) of
tungsten and RAF steels at high temperatures.
Explosive welding is a well-known solid-state welding tech-
nique that uses the controlled energy of a detonating explosive
directed onto the material surface [5]. This process is generally
performed in atmosphere by placing an explosive charge on the
surface of a yer plate, which is located well away from the base
plate in order to achieve the desired velocity during collision of the
two plates. However, as shown in Fig. 1, such a method has been
found to be unsuitable for the fusing of tungsten to ferritic steels
(SUS430), due to the brittle nature of tungsten.
The underwater explosive welding process developed by one of
the authors has beensuccessfully appliedtothe joining of a number
of similar and dissimilar materials, including tungsten foil to a cop-
per base plate [68]. The shock wave generated underwater offers
the advantage of allowing the uniform acceleration of a thin yer
plate. The present study examines the application of underwater
0920-3796/$ see front matter. Crown Copyright 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.12.038
D. Mori et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 10861090 1087
Fig. 1. Photograph of a tungsten coating on commercial ferritic steel (SUS430)
obtained by conventional in-air explosive welding.
explosive welding to the fabrication of tungsten coated RAF steel
for rst-wall fusion reactor components. The microstructure of the
resulting interface is investigated by eld emission type electron
microprobe analyzer (FE-EPMA), and the mechanical performance
of the weld is evaluated by nanoindentation hardness and small
punch (SP) testing.
2. Experimental method
2.1. Underwater explosive welding
All underwater explosive welding was carried out at the
Shock Wave and Condensed Matter Research Center of Kumamoto
University. Fig. 2 shows the experimental set-up used for the
underwater explosive welding of tungsten and F82H. For the base
plate, a 50mm square sheet, 3mm in thickness, of F82H-IEA
(Fe8Cr2WVTa0.1C) was used; while the yer plate was a
0.2mmthick, 50mmsquare tungsten foil that was purchased from
Nilaco Co. A cover plate consisting of 0.2mm thick stainless steel
sheets was positioned 0.1mmaway fromthe tungsten yer plate,
so that the yer plate achieves the required velocity conducive to
welding. The entire set-up was then water-sealed and placed on an
Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of underwater explosive welding.
Fig. 3. Photograph of the tungsten coating on F82H RAF steel obtained by under-
water explosive welding.
anvil. A plastic explosive, SEP, with a detonation velocity 7000m/s
and a density of 1310kg/m
3
, was supplied by Kayaku Japan Co. Ltd.,
Japan and used for all explosion experiments. The plastic explosive
was suitably molded on a PMMA plate, and then placed at preset
angle of 30

with an electric detonator for initiating the explosion.

The stand-off distance between the center of the sample and the
explosive was xed at 25mmfor all experiments.
2.2. Material characterizations
Longitudinal cross-sections of the welded samples along the
detonation direction were fabricated by electric discharge wire-
cutting and mechanical polishing. Microstructural observation and
chemical map analysis was performed using a JEOL JXA-8500F FE-
EPMA.
The cross-sectional hardness distribution was measured using
an Agilent Technologies NanoIndenter G200. Continuous stiffness
measurements were used for the nanoindentation hardness eval-
uation [9].
SP tests [10] were carried out at room temperature with a
crosshead speed of 0.2mm/min. Disk specimens of 3mmdiameter
were cut fromthe welded sample, and were mechanically polished
to reduce the thickness of the F82H to 0.2mm. A 1mm diameter
hardened steel ball was then loaded onto the F82H side of the disk
specimen. The resulting fracture surface was then observed by a
JEOL JSM-6010LA scanning electron microscope (SEM).
3. Results and discussion
Fig. 3 shows a photograph of the tungsten layer formed on F82H
after underwater explosive welding. Although some peeling was
evident at the starting point of welding, the present conditions
Fig. 4. Longitudinal cross-section in the welding direction, showing the microstruc-
ture at the center of the sample.
1088 D. Mori et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 10861090
Fig. 5. FE-EPMA elemental maps of a longitudinal cross-section along the welding
direction.
Fig. 6. Cross-sectional hardness distributionfor underwater explosive weldedtung-
sten/F82H.
of underwater explosive welding were suitable for welding tung-
sten and F82H. The longitudinal cross sections made in the welding
direction were used to evaluate the microstructure in the center of
the welded sample, as shown in Fig. 4. A distinct wave-like struc-
ture is observed at the interface of the tungsten and F82H, and
is typical of explosive welding. The average wave height is about
2.5m, which is smaller than that observed in a previous study
involving the welding of tungsten/copper by a similar method [8].
An interlayer of tungsten and F82H is identied by an interme-
diate contrast and is located adjacent to the wave-like interface.
Fig. 5 shows the results of elemental map analysis of Fe, Cr, and W
by FE-EPMA, along with a secondary electron image for the coarse
phase observed in the interlayer. The tungsten concentration in the
interlayer was found to be higher than in the F82H, which means
that the interlayer is formed by a mixing of W and F82H during
welding. Through careful observation of the interlayer elemental
maps, it can be seen that a non-uniformelemental vortex is formed
within the interlayer. This suggests that a rapid quenching of the
interface region occurred immediately after the formation of this
vortex. Micro-cracks werealsoobservedintheinterlayer, withsuch
cracking behavior likely to be affected by residual stress caused by
the CTE mismatch of the parent materials during rapid cooling. At
present, the authors are exploring means of reducing the coarse
interlayer and micro-cracking through optimization of the welding
conditions, such as the distance and angle between the explosive
and the tungsten yer plate.
The results of nanoindentation hardness testing at a load of
7mN for the longitudinal cross-section specimens are shown in
Fig. 6. Because of the difculty of making imprints in the interlayer
phases precisely, ten indentations in the interlayer zone (distance
of 0m) and ve in the tungsten and F82H were performed. This
found that the interlayer phases have an intermediate hardness
between that of F82H and W; which indicates that a martensitic
transformation did not occur, despite the localized temperature
increases and rapid quenching associated with explosive welding.
The FE-EPMAanalysis shows that the tungstenconcentrationinthe
mixed phases becomes greater than that of the F82Hmatrix; and as
tungsten is known to stabilize ferrite in F82H, this would prohibit
martensite transformation during cooling. It is therefore thought
that the cracking observed in the interlayer phases is not in fact
due to formation of brittle phases, but rather the result of thermal
stress induced during the rapid cooling after welding.
The SP test results are summarized in Fig. 7. The loaddeection
curve of the fracture specimen shows two sudden drops in load,
D. Mori et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 10861090 1089
Fig. 7. SP test results: (a) loaddeection curves and (b) SEMfractographs.
which may correspond to the occurrence of a crack in the spec-
imen. Subsequent tests were therefore terminated following the
rst and second drops. The result of cross-sectional observation of
the rst specimen(Fig. 7(b-1)) revealedthat the rst crack occurred
in the middle of the tungsten part, being perpendicular to the load-
ing direction at a load of approximately 350400N and bending
within the constraints of the joint interface. In the second drop
specimen (b-2), the cracks can be seen to propagate into both the
surface of tungsten and the interface. Finally, both the tungsten
and F82H are completely ruptured, as shown in the (b-3) frac-
ture specimen. These results imply that the interface has a good
bonding strength when compared with the strength of tungsten
under small punchloading. Athermal fatigue test is currently being
evaluated.
These results conrm that underwater explosive welding is
an attractive option for the fabrication of tungsten-coated RAF
steels; however there is as yet no experimental data regarding the
maximum practical thickness of tungsten that can be welded to
F82H. A theoretical approach combined with various experiences
inunderwater explosiveweldingsuggests that themaximumthick-
ness may possibly be up to 1mm [11]. Further experiments to
obtain a thicker coating with a uniformwave-like interface are still
ongoing.
4. Conclusion
Underwater explosive welding was successfully utilized to clad
tungsten onto F82H RAF steel.
(1) The welding interface exhibiteda characteristic wave-like mor-
phology containing a mixed layer of tungsten and F82H.
(2) Nanoindentation hardness tests revealed a gradual change in
the interface, with no hardened or brittle phases observed.
(3) SP tests of the welded specimens resulted in initial cracking in
the center of the tungsten part, followed by propagation to the
surface of the tungsten and the tungsten/F82H interface.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Mr. Shigeru Tanaka and Mr.
Ryuji Kimura for their assistance withthe explosive welding exper-
iments at Kumamoto University. Thanks also to Mr. Masanori
Yamazaki for his support in the SP tests at Tohoku University. This
research was supported by the NIFS budget codes NIFS12KOBF023
and the ZE Research Program, IAE (B5).
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