Preliminary synthesis and mechanical property of titanium beryllide pebbles with different chemical compositions

• We report on the preliminary synthesis of the beryllium–titanium beryllide pebbles.
• Beryllide pebbles were successfully synthesized by a plasma sintering and rotating electrode methods.
• Be17Ti2 phase rich beryllide pebble was confirmed according to a peritectic reaction.
• Mechanical property of the beryllide pebbles was evaluated with compressive test.

Beryllide is well-known as the most promising candidate for advanced multipliers in demonstration fusion reactors. However, due to its brittleness, it is difficult to fabricate a pebble-type beryllide. Here, we report the synthesis and analysis of beryllide pebbles with different chemical compositions. In order to clarify the effect of the content of Ti on the fabrication of beryllide pebbles, a rotating electrode method was applied using a plasma-sintered beryllide rod jointed by two beryllide blocks and powder. The beryllide pebbles were successfully fabricated accompanied by phase changes induced by re-melting during the rotating electrode method. The SEM images of the rods and the cross-section of the pebbles demonstrated that the phases of the plasma-sintered beryllide rods with 6 at.%, 7 at.%, and 7.7 at.% Ti were transformed to the peritectic Be12Ti phase with a Be17Ti2 phase due to re-melting whereas pebbles with 3 at.% and 5 at.% Ti showed similar phases as the plasma-sintered beryllide rods. Additionally, the dependence of the Ti amount on crush load depicted that the pebbles with the larger area fraction of Be indicated the higher crush load as well as longer displacement because the Be contributed to increase of ductility in the pebbles.