PIPE JOINING MEETING @

CERN

WELDING TECHNIQUES
ELECTRICAL BREAKS
AND SLEEVE JOINTS
18/05/2018
PRESENTATION BY: PAUL KEMP-RUSSELL.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM: RICHARD FRENCH,
SAM EDWARDS, HECTOR MARIN-REYES, SHEFFIELD
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FRED GANNAWAY, QMUL
 HISTORY:
COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT AT
SHEFFIELD.
Previous concept to date…
1.Create & produce robust and accurate on bench
tooling with supporting jigs.
2.Use a “one hit” accurate and clean cutting process
for Stave tube loops.
3.Two piece construction of stave tube loops and
electrical break/wiggle.
4.Use, then removal of temporary bought in VCR
fittings.
5.Different design components for stave and forward
pixel cooling.
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Problems arising from butt welded pipe
jointing
• Need for near perfect end of tube finish and alignment , best
performed on bench jig
• Joints doubly difficult if particular angular alignment necessary.
• Difficulty in maintaining internal gas pressure (critical in
process) pre-set in WPS.
• Increased risk of blown joints on thinner walled tube
• On-site welds and repairs very difficult, IE. removal of vcr fitting
at install subsequent reworking of pipe ends.
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PROPOSED DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS: TUBE
JOINTING UTILISING SLEEVE JOINT OVER
BUTT WELD.
ADVANTAGES: DISSADVANTAGES:
1. SLIGHT INCREASE OF TITANIUM METAL MASS TO
1.EASE AND RELIABILITY OF WELD PROCEDURE DUE TO
ABILITY TO IMPROVE ALIGNMENT. STAVE/PIXEL TUBING. (@~Z+1.4M)
2.REMOVES NEED FOR ABSOLUTE PRECISION TUBE 2.EARLY STAGES OF FULL VALIDATION, TO DO LIST:
PREPARATION. (qualify)
•Metallurgical testing
3.STABILISATION OF THE INTERNAL PURGE GAS FLOW.
4.NEW DESIGN TO INCORPORATE A TEMPORARY •Pressure testing
REMOVABLE PRESSURE TEST FITING “FRED”.
•Repeatability testing (yield) with
5.CAN BE ULITILISED ONSITE AT INSTALL .
high stats.
6.COULD BE A SOLUTION FOR REPAIR TO DAMAGED TUBING.
7.TRANSFERABLE FITTINGS ACROSS STAVE AND PIXEL . 3. REQUIRES MACHINING TIME FOR PROTOTYPES.
8.RELATIVELY CHEAP, EASILY MACHINED COMPONENTS. (EST LEAD TIMES APPROX 4-5 WEEKS FROM ORDER)
(QUOTATION: 100-OFF @ £10 EA, 1000-OFF @ £4.50 EA)
9. MUCH INCREASED SUCCESS RATE !! (AS TESTING 4
INDICATES)
SLEEVE JOINT DESIGN AND INTERGRATION.
SLEEVE FITTING WITH O’RING GROOVE FOR
TESTING AND POSITIONING. OBTAINING
QUOTATION NOW WITH A VIEW TO
MANUFACTURE 150 OFF OF THESE ITEMS FROM
“CERAMIC SEALS“ UK MANUFACTURER
(EXP APPROX £10 EA.) SHOWING FORWARD PIXEL CLOSE OUT, U-BEND
WITH AN E-B AND SLEEVE FITTING.

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NEW SLEEVE WELD JOINT PROGRESS SO
FAR.
Overall dimensions of 14mm Long and 3.2 mm diameter with an o”ring groove machined in.
This would allow use as a test fitting and a possible location point to reference the tip of the electrode for the welding
process.

Welded area shown here.

Blank sleeve

O”ring groove to
accept 2.60mm bore x
1.4mm c/s o”ring.

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EXAMPLE CUT THROUGH SLEEVE WELD
SAMPLE
ON SMARTSCOPE.
PICTURES COURTESTY OF SAM EDWARDS IN SHEFFIELD TAKEN ON
“OGP SMARTSCOPE CNC FLASH 200” AT 40X ZOOM.
CROSS SECTION THROUGH 2.50MM X 0.178MM WALL SLEEVE WELD JOINT AREA SHOWING NO FISSURES
TUBE AND SLEEVE FITING AT WELDED JOINT AREA AND CONSISTANT GRAIN STRUCTURE.

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PROPOSED NEW ELETRICAL BREAK:
INCORPORATING TEMPORARY TEST FITTING.
ADVANTAGES: DISSADVANTAGES:
• 1. MULTI-FACETED COMPONENT , IE. WELD • 1. NO SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS FORSEEN.
FITTING , EB , AND TEST FITTING IN ONE.
• 2. POTENTIAL REMOVAL OF TWO WELD JOINTS • 2. TESTS AND METROLOGY NOT YET
INSIDE STAVE CORE AREA. UNDERWAY.
• 3. MASSIVE REDUCTION IN SIZE OF COMPONENT. • 3. WILL HAVE TO FOLLOW DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
(COST IMPLICATION.)
AS PREVIOUS FITTIINGS TO ENSURE
• 4. USE OF THE PREVIOUS PROVEN CERAMIC ROBUSTNESS.
TECHNOLOGY.
• 5. USE IN BOTH STAVE AND FORWARD PIXEL.(NB. • 4. DEVELOPMENT TIME ?
COULD BE SIMILAR BUT SUBTILY DIFFERENT)
• 6. DESIGN COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL STABILTIY
TO END OF STAVE AREA (IF NECESSARY.)
• 7. ALSO USED AS A TRANSITIONAL JOINT FROM
ONE TUBE DIAMETER TO ANOTHER. 8
 ELECTRICAL BREAK PROPOSALS……
CURRENT ELECTRICAL BREAK PROPOSED BY
SHEFFIELD & QMUL. (TEMPORARLY ON HOLD, DUE TO
POSSIBLE PIPE DIAMETER CHANGES…) ALTERNATIVE EB SOLUTION FEATURING A LARGER
CERAMIC SUITABLE (ELECTRICAL ISOLATING) AT STAVE
END CLOSE OUT AREA.

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 TEMPORARY OR “FRED” FITTING
TEST PORTION WITH STANDARD
CONNECTION TO PRESSURE OR
LEAK TESTING UNIT.
BLANK “FRED” FITTING.

• UTILISING THE O’RING GROOVE ON BOTH THE SLEEVE AND EB’s.

• PROTOTYPES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BY QMUL IN BRASS AND NOW STAINLESS STEEL.
• HAVE ACHIEVED PRESSURE TESTING VALUES OVER 200 BAR (WATER) AT RAL.
• THEY NEED FURTHER QUALIFICATION IE. HELIUM LEAK CHECKING ETC.
• THESE ARE TEMPORARY TEST FITTINGS ONLY !!…. THE WELD SLEEVE IS THEN USED ONCE 10
REMOVED.
WELDING MACHINES AND TECHNIQUES
USED AND DEVELOPED AT SHEFFIELD.

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VBC IP50 : CUSTOM MADE SWAGELOK M200
TIG ORBITAL WELDING OF CP2 TI
SWAGELOK M200 Orbital
power supply
welder setup
PC control &
Programming
for weld schedule

THIS COMERCIALLY AVAILBLE UNIT WAS INTIALLY USED AND WORKED WELL ON TUBE
DIAMETERS DOWN TO 1/8TH “/ 3.0MM WITH WT @ 200 MICRON. BELOW THESE
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FIGURES HOWEVER THINGS PROVED TRICKY. THE MACHINE WAS NOT SENSITIVE
ENOUGH TO COPE WITH THE LOWER CURRENTS REQUIRED.
NEW WELDING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT,
REQUIRED FOR ITK.

• Over the past few years in conjunction with our industrial partner Sheffield has developed
an fully automatic TIG welding system that produces accurate low current narrow bead
welds sourced from our partners aerospace joining knowledge. It was obvious that
nothing like this was commercially available.
• From the use of high frequency pulsing interposed within the pulsed weld current gives
the system its unique characteristic and is capable of joining two razor blade edges
together without distortion.
• The benefit of this technique is that increased arc force or penetration is achieved with a
lower input current which is crucial to thin wall Ti tube welding by allowing for improved
heat management on critical welds whist still attaining full penetration.
• Has additional grounding to previous high arc start voltages through work piece
• Production version fully tested in Sheffield available to ATLAS Upgrade for R&D.
• Capable of joining >125 um Ti using minimal power.
• ~0.3A, 30v on 250um CP2 Ti tube (automatic weld) 13
 SYSTEM DETAILS
• Initial Current 0.1 – 60 Amps

• Upslope time 0.0 – 20 Seconds

• Downslope time 0.0 – 20 Seconds

• Finish Current 0.1 – 60 Amps

• Finish time 0.0 – 25 Seconds

• Pre purge gas 0.0 – 100 Seconds

• Post purge gas 0.0 – 100 Seconds

• Main Current 0.1 – 60 Amps

• Background Current 0.1 – 60 Amps

• Main time 0.01- 5 Seconds

• Background time 0.01- 5 Seconds

• InterPulse Current 0.0 – 60 Amps

• Time per level 0.01- 99.9 Seconds

• Supply 230Volts 13 Amps 50Hz

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2.275mm OD tube weld cassette & head

with arc start grounding
POLYSUDE WELD HEAD
• Set up of electrode distance with shim – needs
refining, tooling being designed now.
• Additional clamp for grounding during arc start.
• Clamping cassette only 13mm wide allowing easy
access to difficult areas.
• Modifications to cassette necessary for electrode
positioning (use o’ring groove as a reference point)

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COMMON FAULTS DISCOVERED DURING R&D
INTO TI
TUBE JOINING – work
Titanium welding TIGhasWELDING
progressed: Highly repeatable in 180μm wall Ti, and going as small
as 120μm wall Ti with some success. There are two main problem areas.

Electrode burn-out.
• High arc temperature required for Ti welds is
causing burn-out of Ciriated Tungsten
electrodes.
• Changed to Thoriated electrodes that we make
in house at Sheffield with the correct length
Argon purge gas: and tip.
•Ag used is BOC Pureshield. From variable
• These tungsten electrode contains 2% Thorium
welds on thin wall tube, the transfer lines were
which is slightly radioactive. Processing of
holding moisture varying arc temp. these electrodes should not be done without
•Changing to BIP Ag from Airproducts with all extraction.
316L gas transfer lines gave immediate
• The new electrodes and allow for a cooler arc
improvement.
during welding. This improved weld quality
without depositing tungsten into the weld.
Lower power could be used and weld and HAZ
reduced. 16
CUTTING PROCESS OPTIONS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE …………
• DRY ABRASIVE WHEEL CUTTING AND SWAGELOK CARBIDE TIPPED FINISHING TOOL: METHOD CURRENTLY EMPLOYED
FOR MOST APPLICATIONS FOR TEST PIECES ETC, WHERE ACCURACY IS NOT IMPORTANT BUT FINISH TO TUBING IS.

• WIRE EDM @ SHEFFIELD: USED WHEN AN ACCURACY AND FINISH ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT BUT LIMITED TO SHORT
LENGTHS OF TUBING >500MM, AS CONSTRAINED BY THE TANK OF THE MACHINE.

•“SPECTROGRAPHIC” PRECISION CUTTER WITH RUBBER BONDED ABRASIVE WHEEL,

CUTTING USING DEIONISED WATER AS COOLANT (AS TUBE SUPPLIERS USE): SHOULD BE ABLE TO ADAPT MACHINE
WITH JIGS TO ACCOMMODATE THE STAVE LOOPS TO TRIM TO LENGTH.

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THAT’S ALL FOLKS !!

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