Publications Details
A Glove Box Enclosed Gas-Tungsten Arc Welding System
This report describes an inert atmosphere enclosed gas-tungsten arc welding system which has been assembled in support of the MC2730, MC2730A and MC 3500 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) Enhanced Surveillance Program. One goal of this program is to fabricate welds with microstructures and impurity levels which are similar to production heat source welds previously produced at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Mound Facility. These welds will subsequently be used for high temperature creep testing as part of the overall component lifetime assessment. In order to maximize the utility of the welding system, means for local control of the arc atmosphere have been incorporated and a wide range of welding environments can easily be evaluated. The gas-tungsten arc welding system used in the assembly is computer controlled, includes two-axis and rotary motion, and can be operated in either continuous or pulsed modes. The system can therefore be used for detailed research studies of welding impurity effects, development of prototype weld schedules, or to mimic a significant range of production-like welding conditions. Fixturing for fabrication of high temperature creep test samples have been designed and constructed, and weld schedules for grip-tab and test welds have been developed. The microstructure of these welds have been evaluated and are consistent with those used during RTG production.