Material Annotations in the Model
Each component is tagged with its material class, so the model shows not just where a part is but what it must be made of.
What a part is made of
Geometry answers where a component sits; material annotations answer what it must be made of. In a fusion machine the two are inseparable, because the demands on each part, heat, neutron flux, field, cryogenic temperature, dictate the material class as strictly as the shape dictates the fit.
Material classes across the machines
- Plasma-facing surfaces on the first wall and divertor, chosen to survive heat and particle bombardment.
- Lithium-bearing breeder material in the Hyperion blanket, needed to breed tritium at a ratio of 1.8.
- Structural materials that keep strength under neutron irradiation.
- REBCO high-temperature superconductor in the magnets of both machines.
- Shielding materials sized to absorb the neutron flux each machine produces.
Why the material follows the physics
The blanket must contain lithium because only lithium breeds tritium under neutron bombardment. The magnets must be REBCO because only a high-temperature superconductor reaches 16.84 T or 26.49 T in these geometries. The first wall must resist erosion because it faces the plasma. Each material choice is forced by a physical demand the model can state alongside it.
In the model
Selecting a component reports its material class in the callout. Fine material detail and tolerances are reserved for the signed-in tier, but the material class of every major part is public, because knowing what a part is made of is basic to understanding why it is where it is.
Related detail
See the component measurements that accompany the material tags and the REBCO magnet model for the superconductor material in depth.