Self-immersing wetting balance
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsHarvey Donald Solomon, Ronald Edward Delair, Leslie Homer String
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wetting balance includes a load cell for suspending a specimen above a crucible containing a molten braze pool. A lift supports the crucible for vertical lifting thereof to effect an immersion cycle of the specimen in the pool. A controller operates the lift and determines first contact with the pool by measuring force changes thereat and produces a measured force log during the immersion cycle. In operation, the lift is operated for a predetermined time following first contact for immersing the specimen to a predetermined depth in the pool.
Claims15
A wetting balance for measuring force on a specimen during brazing, comprising:
- a load cell including a sling for suspending said specimen and measuring a vertical force thereon;
- a crucible disposed below said load cell for containing a molten braze pool;
- a lift supporting said crucible for vertical lifting thereof;
- a controller operatively joined to said load cell for obtaining measured force therefrom including first contact force of said specimen entering said pool, and operatively joined to said lift for controlling elevation of said crucible;
- and
- said controller being configured for elevating said crucible in a cycle to immerse said specimen into said braze pool to a predetermined depth in a predetermined time following said first contact force;
- to maintain said immersion depth for a time interval;
- and then to withdraw said specimen from said pool while producing a log of measured force on said specimen over time of said cycle.
A method of measuring force on a suspended specimen during brazing comprising:
- lifting a crucible containing a molten braze pool to immerse said specimen therein;
- detecting first contact of said specimen upon immersion in said pool by measuring force change on said specimen;
- stopping said crucible lifting at a predetermined time following detection of said first contact to immerse said specimen to a predetermined immersion depth;
- maintaining said immersion depth for a dwell time interval;
- lowering said crucible to withdraw said specimen from said pool;
- and
- measuring force on said specimen during said lifting-to-lowering immersion cycle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.