Fabrication of TBMs cooling structures demonstrators using additive manufacturing (AM) technology and HIP

Several mock-ups, each of them consisting of six rectangular channels with dimensions according to the EU Test Blanket Modules (TBMs) specifications, were manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM) technology using P91, a ferritic-martensitic 9%Cr-1%Mo-V steel with a metallurgical behavior similar to EUROFER, the reference structural material for DEMO blanket concepts. SLM parameters led to an as-built density of 99.35% Theoretical Density (TD) that increased up to 99.74% after hot isostatic pressing (HIP). Dimensional control showed that the differences between the original design and the component are below 100 μm. By the appropriate selection of normalization and tempering parameters it was possible to obtain a material fulfilling P91 specification. The microstructure was investigated after SLM, HIP and normalizing and tempering treatments. In all cases, it consisted of thin martensitic laths. Subsize tensile samples were extracted from the mock-ups to measure the mechanical tensile properties after each step of the manufacturing process. The effect of thermal treatments on hardness was also evaluated.