WELDING APPARATUS AND METHOD.

摘要

An exothermic welding system uses compressible layers of disposable refractory batting or gaskets to form a weld chamber for parts to be welded. The parts to be welded are layered with the batting between a base and a crucible platen supported by a clamping fixture. The layered batting is provided with the holes intersecting the parts to be welded. The holes form the weld chamber. The crucible platen is provided with a chamber for the exothermic material which when ignited forms molten metal which flows through a tap hole into the weld chamber. When the weld is made, the fixture is opened and the batting is discarded. The invention is also the method of forming the welded connection by compressing the layered batting and the parts to be welded to form the disposable weld chamber enabling a simpler and lower cost welding system to make a wide variety of connections not requiring a large inventory of special and costly refractory mold parts.