Analysis of hardness and microstructural changes in Tungsten mono-blocks exposed to high heat flux at 10 MW/m2

• Investigation of the material properties in the near surface region of tungsten mono-blocks through the microstructure and hardness profiling before and after high heat flux test. • The correlation between the decrease of hardness and the grain growth near surface was identified through the depth profiling. • The degraded depth of tungsten armor was affected by the bonding quality of mockups and subsequent occurrence during the cyclic high...