APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LASER WELDING THE INNER SURFACE OF A TUBE

摘要

A laser welding apparatus (30) and method are used to weld the inner surface of small diameter tubes (15) such as nuclear heat exchanger tubes. A weld filler metal (74) carried by a rotatable laser weld head is fed into the weld zone to produce deeply penetrating weldments of low profile. The apparatus and method can effectively be used to repair cracks in heat exchanger tubes to thereby provide extended service life.