Metallic sleeve for bridging a leakage point on a pipe
AssigneeABB Reaktor GmbH
InventorsGunter Baro, Jakob Russ
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A metallic sleeve for bridging a leakage point on a pipe is expanded onto the inner wall surface of the pipe with the aid of an expansion technique. During the expansion process, a gap of approximately 5 to 10 .mu.m occurs between the pipe and the sleeve due to the elastic resilience of the deformed materials. In order to prevent leakage through this gap, the peripheral surface of the end regions of the sleeve carry a component made of a shape-memory alloy which forms a seal between the sleeve and the pipe when a given temperature is reached. The sleeve is used primarily during the repair of heat exchanger tubes.
Claims10
A metallic sleeve for bridging a leakage point on a pipe carrying a fluid at a given operating temperature, comprising a sleeve body having an outer peripheral surface to be expanded against an inner wall surface of a pipe for bridging a leakage point on the pipe, and a plurality of components formed of a shape-memory alloy disposed at said outer peripheral surface, said components including means for expanding against the inner wall surface of the pipe and forming a seal between said sleeve body and the pipe as a temperature of said components reaches the given operating temperature.
A metallic sleeve for bridging a leakage point on a pipe provided for carrying a fluid at a given temperature, comprising a sleeve body having an outer peripheral surface to be expanded against an inner wall surface of a pipe for bridging a leakage point on the pipe, and at least one component formed of a shape-memory alloy disposed at said outer peripheral surface, said at least one component including means for expanding against the inner wall surface of the pipe and forming a seal between said sleeve body and the pipe as a temperature of said at least one component reaches the given temperature.
In combination,
- a pipe carrying a fluid at a given operating temperature, said pipe having an inner wall surface;
- and
- a metallic sleeve for bridging a leakage point on said pipe, said metallic sleeve comprising a sleeve body having an outer peripheral surface expanded against said inner wall surface of said pipe for bridging the leakage point on the pipe, and a shape-memory alloy component disposed at said outer peripheral surface, said shape-memory alloy component including means for expanding against said inner wall surface and forming a seal between said sleeve body and said pipe as the given operating temperature is reached.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.