Thermal load testing of erosion-monitoring beryllium marker tile for the ITER-Like Wall Project at JET

ITER-Like Wall Project has been launched at JET in order to perform a fully integrated test of plasma-facing materials. During the next major shutdown a full metal wall will be installed: tungsten in the divertor and beryllium in the main chamber. Beryllium erosion is one of key issues to be addressed. Special marker tiles have been designed for this purpose. Test coupons of such markers have been manufactured and examined. The performance test under high power deposition was carried in the electron beam facility JUDITH. The results of material characterization before and after high heat flux loads are presented. The samples survived, without macroscopic damage, power loads of up to 4.5 MW/m(2) for 10s (surface temperature similar to 650 degrees C) and 50 cyclic loads at 3.5 MW/m(2) lasting 10s each (surface temperature similar to 600 degrees C). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.