The current research activities/emphases are divided in two major topics. Within the topic of material and component characterization, thermophysical and mechanical material properties are determined. Additionally, the influence of these properties on the thermomechanical fatigue and thermal shock performance are evaluated. Furthermore, the influence of hydrogen, helium, and neutron irradiation on the material parameters is studied. High-temperature materials (W, SS, Be etc.) are subjected to fusion relevant thermal loads and qualified. Thereby, synergistic effects between the pure thermal loads and the particle loads (H, He, n) play a major role. Furthermore, high-temperature materials and components are deliberately pre-damaged for subsequent experiments.

A further topic in the material and method development is the in-situ repair of damaged high-temperature materials and the minimization of critical stress states in thermally loaded materials/components via e.g. functionally graded materials (FGMs).

The combination of experimental studies, new design concepts and numerical calculations leads to a better understanding of failure mechanisms, enables the optimization and development of existing high-temperature materials and components, and serves as starting point for the development of new material concepts. The fusion related activities are performed with the long-term goal to develop the technologies necessary for a demonstrational power plant (DEMO) in mind.