Repair of a member having a projection
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorBertrand G. Robins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Repair or replacement of a projection such as a labyrinth seal tooth of a metal having relatively poor weldability characteristics is accomplished by removing a portion or possibly all of the seal tooth down to a pedestal and then metallurgically bonding as by fusing to the pedestal a second metal characterized as having good weldability characteristics when diluted with the first metal, and age hardenable with an aging heat treatment with which the first metal also is age hardenable.
Claims7
In a method of repairing a metal article comprising a support and a projection of an operating height and shape projecting from a first surface of the support, the projection being of a first metal characterized as having relatively poor weldability and repair weldability characteristics, including poor weld flow and crack sensitivity, the method including removing at least a portion of the projection and replacing the removed portion with additional material, the steps of:
- mechanically removing at least a portion of the operating height of the projection to provide a projection pedestal having a base location extending in a range up to about 0.1" away from the first surface;
- providing an additional material of a second metal characterized as having good weldability and repair weldability characteristics when diluted with the first metal and age hardenable with an aging heat treatment with which the first metal also is age hardenable;
- metallurgically bonding the additional material directly to the base location, without prior melting of the base location, at a bond juncture zone to replace at least the removed portion, the additional material after bonding being in a condition which is substantially a solid solution, to provide a repair support/projection preform;
- subjecting the preform to the aging heat treatment;
- and then
- removing a portion of the additional material to regenerate the projection in the operating height and shape.
A labyrinth gas seal comprising a support and at least one seal tooth projecting from a surface of the support wherein:
- the tooth is a composite of a first metal in the form of a tooth pedestal integral with and projecting in a range of up to about 0.1" from a surface of the support and a second metal metallurgically bonded at a bond juncture zone directly to the tooth pedestal which exhibits no prior melting of the tooth pedestal at the bond juncture zone;
- the first metal is characterized as having relatively poor weldability and repair weldability characteristics and the second metal is characterized as having good weldability and repair weldability characteristics when diluted with the first metal and age hardenable with an aging heat treatment with which the first metal also is age hardenable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.