DREAM-TEAM: Developing a Robust Ecosystem for Additive Manufacturing of Tungsten for Extreme Applications and Management (Funding Agency: US Department of Energy, Research Collaborators: University of North Dakota, Ames National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Tungsten (W) has been a main candidate material for the first wall of fusion reactors due to its excellent high-temperature strength and melting temperature, resistance to erosion under high-energy neutron irradiation, and low tritium retention. Despite desirable mechanical properties, W suffers from poor ductility that inhibits the synthesis of W-based alloys via conventional manufacturing routes. Near-net shaping via additive manufacturing (AM) methods provide an opportunity to address these challenges, however, crack susceptivity and high-power density remain significant challenges even with AM of W-based components. The primary research objective of this project is to demonstrate metal AM processing of W-based alloys using laser powder-blown directed-energy deposition (DED) as a major route to fabricate near-net shape test articles for extreme environment applications.