A review of physical and mechanical properties of titanium beryllides with specific modern application of TiBe12

Titanium beryllide with the composition TiBe12 has been identified as a potential alternative to beryllium metal for neutron multiplier applications in nuclear fusion reactors such as ITER and DEMO. TiBe12 stands out from other beryllides for fusion because it has the highest neutron-multiplication characteristic, with the added benefit of higher temperature performance capability compared to beryllium metal. To date, little information has been available on the physical and mechanical properties of TiBe12 despite an extensive R&D effort to characterize many beryllide intermetallic compounds in the U.S. from 1956 to 1970. This paper compiles data pertaining to TiBe12 which are taken from several reports written during the referenced time period. This important historical work, which until now has only existed in hard copy reports in private technical libraries, is summarized for current relevance and subsequently, made available in electronic format as a technical reference and basis for planning future work.