Experimental Testing
The project involved two parts for verifying and validating the image-based technique. Experimental and simulated results were first obtained from a disc-shaped sample of CFC bonded to Cu subjected to Laser Flash Analysis (LFA) to determine thermal properties. Simulations were run using a CAD-based model, a low-resolution model generated from X-ray tomography (Nikon Metrology 225/320 kV, Manchester X-ray Imaging Facility), and a high-resolution model from the same data run in a high performance computing facility. As the high-resolution model showed the closest match to experimental results, the second stage of the tests used this method to simulate the behaviour of a CFC-Cu divertor monoblock mock-up under reactor-like thermal loads.