Erosion evaluation capability of the IVVS for ITER applications

•High resolution laser radar range images for hostile environment (IVVS).•Evaluation of the erosion on the surface scanned by IVVS laser radar.•Erosion evaluation procedure and software.•Test and results of the erosion evaluation procedure.

In ITER it is foreseen the use of the In Vessel Viewing System (IVVS), whose scanning head is a 3D laser imaging system able to obtain high-resolution intensity and range images in hostile environments. The IVVS will be permanently installed into a port extension, therefore it has to be compliant with ITER primary vacuum requirements. In the frame of a Fusion for Energy Grant, an investigation of the expected IVVS metrology performances was required to evaluate the device capability to detect erosions on ITER first wall and divertor and to estimate the amount of eroded material. In ENEA Frascati laboratories, an IVVS probe prototype was developed along with a method and a computational procedure applied to a reference erosion plate target simulating ITER vessel components and their possible erosions. Experimental tests were carried out by this system performing several scans of the reference target with different incidence angles, estimating the eroded volume and comparing this volume with its true value. A dedicated study has been also done by changing the power of the laser source; a discussion about the quality of the 3D laser images is reported. The main results obtained during laboratory tests and data processing are presented and discussed.