Mandrel for hydraulically expanding a tube into engagement with a tubesheet
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorFrank W. Cooper, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mandrel for hydraulically expanding tubes into engagement with a tubesheet, the body of the mandrel being coated with an electrically isolating impermeable membrane and having an eddy current coil adjacent the leading end thereof, the tube into which the mandrel is placed and the body of the mandrel serving as leads for operating the eddy current coil in order to determine when the leading end of the mandrel is adjacent the inner edge of the tubesheet and a mandrel having a portion formed from wire rope so that the mandrel is flexible and can fit into a tube adjacent a hemispherical head.
Claims18
A mandrel for hydraulically expanding a tube into engagement with a hole in a tubesheet, said mandrel comprising:
- a body portion covered with an electrically isolating material and having a leading and a trailing end;
- said body portion having an elongated circumferential groove disposed in each of said ends;
- an elastomer sealing member disposed in each of said grooves;
- an elastomer back-up member disposed in each of said grooves outboard of said sealing members;
- and
- means disposed in said trailing end for introducing pressurized fluid between said grooves whereby the pressurized fluid hydraulically expands that portion of the tube between the seals into engagement with the tubesheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.