Development and application of multiscale procedures for the thermomechanical analysis of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead Breeding Blanket

The Breeding Blanket is an essential component of the DEMO fusion reactor and its design is one of the pivotal purposes of the DEMO project. Indeed, this component has to withstand severe operating conditions, as it is directly exposed to the plasma, making its design particularly challenging. In particular, the Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) BB concept is one of the candidates currently considered for the conceptual design of the European DEMO reactor. The development of a robust BB system is crucial for the design of the whole DEMO reactor and the thermo-mechanical assessment of the whole BB segments is mandatory to allow checking their structural performances in different loading scenarios. In this dissertation, a multi-scale procedure, allowing to investigate in detail the thermo-mechanical performances of an entire blanket segment, is proposed. In particular, the Central Outboard Blanket (COB) segment has been considered and the results are herewith presented. The structural performances have been investigated in view of the RCC-MRx design criteria.