First analysis of the misaligned leading edges of ITER-like plasma facing units using a very high resolution infrared camera in WEST

Twelve ITER-like plasma-facing units made of tungsten were exposed in the WEST tokamak divertor, with three PFUs significantly overexposed to plasma heat flux: one sharp-edged PFU (vertical misalignment h = 0.8 mm) and two chamfered PFUs (h = 0.6 mm and 0.3 mm, respectively). This paper describes the first temperature analysis obtained with a very high spatial resolution infrared camera (pixel size ~ 0.1 mm) on the misaligned PFU edges and shows the consistency obtained on the parallel heat flux derived from these measurements. The analysis is focused on the hottest areas of the PFU misaligned leading edges, since the temperature detection threshold of the VHR camera is high (Tthreshold,BB ≈ 370°C). The heat flux parallel to the magnetic field lines is assessed by matching the toroidal temperature profile in the vicinity of the leading edge with 3D finite element modelling. The tungsten emissivity assumed in this study is 0.6, consistent with laboratory measurements for damaged PFUs. For the three PFUs studied (with different vertical misalignments, incident angles, geometries), the derived parallel heat flux is similar, and consistent with independent measurements by a Fiber Bragg grating embedded in a graphite PFU at another toroidal location, giving confidence in future experiments using the same settings.