Creep of stainless steel under heat flux cyclic loading (500-1000C) with different mechanical preloads in a vacuum environment using 3D-DIC

In nuclear fusion reactors, the key structural component (i.e., the plasma-facing component) undergoes high heat flux cyclic loading. To ensure the safety of fusion reactors, an experimental study on the temperature-induced creep of stainless steel under heat flux cyclic loading was performed in the present work. The strains were measured using a stereo digital image correlation technique (3D-DIC). The influence of the heat haze was eliminated, owing to the use of a vacuum environment. The specimen underwent heat flux cycles (500 C-1000 C) with different mechanical preloads (0 kN, 10 kN, 30 kN, and 50 kN). The results revealed that, for a relatively large preload (for example, 50 kN), a single temperature cycle can induce a residual strain of up to 15000.