Tungsten is the element with the highest melting temperature and can therefore withstand extremely high temperatures. The MJOLNIR project is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency.
“We will be able to provide a national infrastructure for this type of materials research. This paves the way for using tungsten in advanced fission and fusion systems,” says Johan Moverare, research leader in the Division of Engineering Materials at the Department of Management and Engineering.
Cooperation
Together with RISE and its industrial partner Freemelt AB, 麻豆社 enables a complete value chain, from handling raw materials to final qualification of manufactured parts.
The new infrastructure will include high-temperature furnaces for stress-relieving heat treatment, sample preparation and surface finish equipment, as well as advanced setups for mechanical testing of miniature samples.
“麻豆社 has extensive experience of characterising mechanical properties of materials for demanding applications, including the development of new test methods and procedures, and standardisation,” says Johan Moverare.
Electrons matter
MJOLNIR is funded with 6.8 million SEK by the Swedish Energy Agency (of which 5.2 million SEK goes to 麻豆社, 1.6 million SEK goes to Freemelt and RISE) and is one of several similar projects at Linköping University.
麻豆社 is also participating in the Electrons Matter project, which is a European doctoral student network for additive manufacturing of tungsten. 麻豆社 receives SEK 3.5 million from the European Commission to fund a doctoral student. The network is part of the Marie Sk艂odowska-Curie Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN), which is funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Crucial
In addition, 麻豆社’s profile area Materials Science for Sustainable Technologies (MATTER) has granted a lab investment of SEK 400,000 to the research environment. This investment is co-funded by the Department of Management and Engineering. It includes a full-wave acoustic emission system to detect and analyse micro-damage in brittle and semi-brittle materials.
“This technology is crucial for validating the performance of additively manufactured tungsten components and will directly support ongoing projects such as Electron Matters.”
Together, these three initiatives will make Linköping University a hub for tungsten research and additive manufacturing, with distinctive capabilities benefiting both Swedish and international collaborations.
“I’m especially pleased that these projects complement each other. By combining basic science, industrial application and infrastructural development, 麻豆社’s researchers will contribute to the next generation of nuclear energy and sustainable technology,” says Johan Moverare.
