Patent Number: 052672891
Section: abstract

A method for enhancing the wear resistance of a tubular component (62) of a nuclear fuel assembly, including the first steps of supporting the component in an implantation chamber (16), removing ambient air from the chamber such as by a pump (56) and generating a plasma plume (28) of positively charged metal source material by establishing an electrical discharge arc which travels from a cathode (18) of said source material to an anode (24) of a different material. At least a portion of the plasma plume is passed through an electromagnetic duct (14) which filters constituents other than free, high energy source material ions out of the plume. The high energy source material positive ions are directed through the chamber onto the negatively charged component. The chamber can be backfilled with a reactive gas such as nitrogen which forms an ionic compound with the source material ions such as Zr or Ti, and the ionic compound such as ZrN or TiN implants in the component.