Apparatus and method for laser welding the inner surface of a tube
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsWilliam E. Pirl, Wesley G. Pope, William G. Cole, Rodney A. Lutz, Frank X. Ponko
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laser welding apparatus and method are used to weld the inner surface of small diameter tubes such as nuclear heat exchanger tubes. A weld filler metal carried by a rotatable laser weld head is fed into the weld zone to produce deeply penetrating weldments of low profile. The apparatus and method can effectively be used to repair cracks in heat exchanger tubes to thereby provide extended service life.
Claims25
Apparatus for laser welding an inner surface of a small-diameter tube comprising:
- laser weld head means operable to be inserted into the tube for rotatingly projecting a laser beam against the inner surface of the tube to form a weld zone;
- means for mounting a weld filler wire on the laser weld head means prior to insertion of the laser weld head means into the tube;
- and
- means for feeding the weld filler wire from the weld filler wire mounting means to the weld zone.
A method of welding an inner surface of a small-diameter tube comprising:
- providing a laser weld head;
- mounting a weld filler wire on the laser weld head prior to insertion of the laser weld head into a tube to be welded;
- inserting the laser weld head and weld filler wire mounted on the laser weld head into the tube;
- rotatingly projecting a laser beam from the laser weld head against the inner surface of the tube to form a weld zone;
- and
- feeding the weld filler wire to the weld zone to form a weldment.
A weld head for insertion into a small-diameter tube for laser welding an inner surface of the tube, the weld head comprising:
- a housing adapted to be inserted into the tube;
- means attached to the housing for spoofing weld filler wire onto the weld head prior to its insertion into the tube;
- means for receiving a laser beam into the housing;
- means attached to the housing for rotatingly projecting the laser beams against the inner surface of the tube to form a weld zone;
- and
- means for feeding the weld filler wire into the weld zone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.