Laser-GMA Hybrid Pipe Welding System

Abstract

The combination of laser welding with conventional gas metal arc welding technology offers substantial increases in production rate of joining pipe through single-pass joining compared to multi-pass techniques that are commonly used. The hybrid process has been examined and developed for this application, and the process has been qualified through the American Bureau of Shipping for a wide range of pipe schedules. A system to realize this application has been specified, designed, built, and implemented in General Dynamics NASSCO Shipyard, and been subjected to a seven month evaluation on the production floor. Lessons learned have been documented to benefit future efforts. Fifteen actual production pipe spools were manufactured using the system.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA477194

Entities

People

  • Edward W. Reutzel
  • Jay F. Tressler
  • Juan Avalos
  • Ludwig Kern
  • Michael J. Sullivan

Organizations

  • Pennsylvania State University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Arc Welding
  • Cameras
  • Control Systems
  • Gas Metal Arc Welding
  • Joining
  • Joints
  • Laser Applications
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Welding
  • Lasers
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • Photographs
  • Shipbuilding
  • Welded Joints
  • Welding
  • Welds

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Metallurgy
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers