Projects - Fusion CDT

POTENTIAL PROJECTS FOR 2019 ENTRY.

EPSRC has announced the 75 CDTs that it will support in the next phase, and unfortunately the Fusion CDT is not amongst them. We are presently working with our partners to identify alternative funding mechanisms, which we are seeking to have in place by the end of February. However, if we cannot find a funding solution, we will not be able to take any new students onto the programme this year.

If you are still interested in applying for the Fusion CDT, and wish for us to contact you once our funding position is more clear, please complete your details on our mailing list.

Performance-limiting Plasma Instabilities in ITER – the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (Plasma Strand Project)

In a tokamak, magnetic field lines lie within a set of toroidal surfaces that are nested inside the plasma like a set of Russian dolls. These surfaces are called flux…
Imaging the tokamak plasma edge using a novel microwave camera (plasma strand project)

The Synthetic Aperture Microwave Imaging version 2 (SAMI-2) system is a novel microwave camera operating in the 20-40GHz frequency band to probe the tokamak plasma edge: the anisotropic emission of…
Resonant instabilities in burning tokamak plasmas (plasma strand project)

The next-generation ITER tokamak will produce 500MW of fusion power, of which 100MW will be manifested as super-thermal alpha-particles. These alphas will resonantly drive instabilities in the plasma which may…
New Fusion Tokamak System Designs using High-Temperature Superconductors (materials strand project)

The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific projects at the beginning of the 21st century…
Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau Theory for High-Field Superconductors in Compact Fusion Energy Tokamaks (materials strand project)

The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific projects at the beginning of the 21st century…
High Temperature Superconductors in High Magnetic Fields under Strain that Enable Compact Tokamaks (materials strand project)

The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific projects at the beginning of the 21st century…
Modular High-Field Superconducting Magnets with Joints for Fusion Energy Applications (materials strand projects)

The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific projects at the beginning of the 21st century…
Understanding laser-plasma interactions through wakefield acceleration experiments (plasma strand project)

High intensity laser-plasma interactions have applications across a wide range of physics and industrial applications from radiography to fusion energy. The coupling of a laser to a plasma has the…
Advanced composite materials for extreme conditions in fusion reactors (materials strand project)

Plasma-facing Components (PFCs) in nuclear fusion reactors are exposed to exceedingly high heat fluxes of up to 10-20 MW/m2, roughly one order of magnitude higher than those (already quite large)…
Micro-Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Metals Diffusion Bonds (materials strand project)

Diffusion bonding is an attractive method of making high quality joints between materials (similar or dissimilar) based on the solid state diffusion of atomic species between the two parts being…
Zirconium alloys for fusion applications (materials strand project)

Supervisors: Profs. Chris Grovenor and David Armstrong Zr-alloys are currently being reconsidered by the fusion community for application in the breeder blanket where the energy from fusion neutrons will be…
Correlating the evolution of atomic-scale microstructure with deterioration of mechanical properties in T91 steel samples from the BOR60 reactor (materials strand project)

T91 steel is a promising candidate material for high-dose structural components in both fusion and fission nuclear reactors. However, a better understanding of how the atomic-scale microstructure evolves under the…
Helium Bubble formation in Fusion Materials (materials strand project)

In the context of nuclear reactor materials, the formation and behaviour of inert gases (such as He generated via transmutation) are critical to the understanding and prediction of bulk dimensional…
Tokamak Edge Modelling for Exascale (plasma strand project)

The aim of this project is to understand power handling in large fusion devices such as ITER and DEMO. You will help to develop and improve state of the art…
The plasma production of fuzzy materials relevant to fusion research (plasma strand project)

This project will follow on from two very successful previous studies undertaken at Liverpool by Fusion doctoral students [1, 2] into the production and analysis of fusion-relevant fuzzy materials. Using…
Simulations of ELM burn-through in MAST-U Super-X Configuration (plasma strand project)

As fusion devices progress towards reactor-relevant conditions, the exhaust of particles and heat onto the inner walls of the machine is acknowledged to be a major challenge, with growing concern…
Modelling the interaction of divertor plasmas with tungsten and carbon surfaces (plasma strand project)

Tokamak exhaust, the flow of energy and particles from the core plasma to the walls, is one of the central challenges of the ITER device and any future fusion reactor….
Alloy design and high-temperature mechanics of plasma-facing materials (materials strand project)

Tungsten stands as the main plasma-facing material for fusion reactors due to its melting point (3420°C), low sputtering yield, and good high-temperature strength and thermal conductivity. Unfortunately, tungsten is brittle…
Evaluating the structural integrity of nuclear materials by long duration neutron diffraction (materials strand project)

In future fusion reactors, structural components experience complex cyclic loading associated with startup/shut-down and following electricity demand. During operation, most cycles involve long periods of ‘dwell’ time resulting in creep…
Flow boiling and corrosion: a fundamental multi-scale and multi-physics study with application to the efficient cooling of plasma-facing components in fusion reactors (materials strand project)

Plasma-facing structural components in nuclear fusion reactors are exposed to exceedingly high heat fluxes of up to 10-20 MW/m2, roughly one order of magnitude higher than those (already quite large)…
Magnetic fields and fusion plasmas (plasma strand project)

Magnetic confinement fusion or MCF relies upon a strong magnetic field to confine the plasma and limit electron thermal conduction to the walls of the experiment. These plasmas are fully…
Fusion: the Polar Direct Drive Shock Ignition approach (plasma strand project)

Join Robbie Scott at the Central Laser Facility (STFC) and Nigel Woolsey in the Physics Department (York) and contribute to an international effort to achieve fusion energy gain through Inertial…
Electromagnetic turbulence and advanced transport modelling (plasma strand project)

The fusion performance of tokamaks is strongly influenced by the effectiveness of the background magnetic field in holding particles and energy inside the central plasma volume and away from the…
Developing the next generation of plasma-facing materials by understanding the formation of irradiation-induced defects in tungsten (materials strand project)

Tungsten (W) is the primary material of choice to be used for plasma-facing components (first wall and divertor) because of its superior high-temperature properties, neutron irradiation resistance and low retention…
Understanding the dynamics of magnetic fields in high-energy density plasmas and their application to enhance the yield of inertial confinement fusion experiments (plasma strand project)

Recent progress in inertial confinement fusion, ICF – where DT capsules are compressed on implosion by an energetic driver (for example high-intensity laser pulses), has seen significant increases in the…

Performance-limiting Plasma Instabilities in ITER – the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (Plasma Strand Project)

Imaging the tokamak plasma edge using a novel microwave camera (plasma strand project)

Resonant instabilities in burning tokamak plasmas (plasma strand project)

New Fusion Tokamak System Designs using High-Temperature Superconductors (materials strand project)

Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau Theory for High-Field Superconductors in Compact Fusion Energy Tokamaks (materials strand project)

High Temperature Superconductors in High Magnetic Fields under Strain that Enable Compact Tokamaks (materials strand project)

Modular High-Field Superconducting Magnets with Joints for Fusion Energy Applications (materials strand projects)

Understanding laser-plasma interactions through wakefield acceleration experiments (plasma strand project)

Advanced composite materials for extreme conditions in fusion reactors (materials strand project)

Micro-Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Metals Diffusion Bonds (materials strand project)

Zirconium alloys for fusion applications (materials strand project)

Correlating the evolution of atomic-scale microstructure with deterioration of mechanical properties in T91 steel samples from the BOR60 reactor (materials strand project)

Helium Bubble formation in Fusion Materials (materials strand project)

Tokamak Edge Modelling for Exascale (plasma strand project)

The plasma production of fuzzy materials relevant to fusion research (plasma strand project)

Simulations of ELM burn-through in MAST-U Super-X Configuration (plasma strand project)

Modelling the interaction of divertor plasmas with tungsten and carbon surfaces (plasma strand project)

Alloy design and high-temperature mechanics of plasma-facing materials (materials strand project)

Evaluating the structural integrity of nuclear materials by long duration neutron diffraction (materials strand project)

Flow boiling and corrosion: a fundamental multi-scale and multi-physics study with application to the efficient cooling of plasma-facing components in fusion reactors (materials strand project)

Magnetic fields and fusion plasmas (plasma strand project)

Fusion: the Polar Direct Drive Shock Ignition approach (plasma strand project)

Electromagnetic turbulence and advanced transport modelling (plasma strand project)

Developing the next generation of plasma-facing materials by understanding the formation of irradiation-induced defects in tungsten (materials strand project)

Understanding the dynamics of magnetic fields in high-energy density plasmas and their application to enhance the yield of inertial confinement fusion experiments (plasma strand project)