SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF FIRST WALL BLANKET ASSEMBLYAND MAINTENANCE FOR THE NEXT STEP FUSION-REACTOR/

This paper is a review of the studies carried out at JRC Ispra on asse mbly and maintenance by remote handling of first wall and blanket, fol lowing the approach of coupling computer and experimental simulation. For this purpose, a CAD/CAE laboratory for computer simulation of tele operation, TELEMAC, and an experimental heavy robotics facility, ROBER TINO, have been set up. This paper explains the reasons for using simu lation equipment, subsidiary to the use of large prototype transporter s, to contribute to the next step reactors design with reduced time an d cost. Maintenance procedures can be simulated in a virtual environme nt, prior to their implementation on ROBERTINO, which allows experimen tal simulation on reduced or full scale simplified mock-ups. ROBERTINO can also be used for experimental validation of operations of general interest, performed by means of prototype tools. The paper reports th e results of test campcugns carried out so far, in collaboration with ENEA, one concerning the simulation studies of whole blanket segments maintenance on reduced scale mockups and another concerning the experi mental validation of pipes cutting/welding using bore tools (i.e. acti ng from inside the pipes). These results confirm the validity of the p roposed approach. The paper shows how the JRC simulation equipment cou ld be used to assess, on full size mock-ups, the feasibility of the bl anket modules attachment to the back-plate, for any design concept fol lowing the evolution of the ITER project. Published by Elsevier Scienc e S.A. All rights reserved.