Tubular joint with seal, method for repairing seal, and repair part insert.

摘要

An improved tubular joint between two tubular members (10, 12) having their mating ends with inner sealing surfaces tapering outward in the direction toward the other tubular member and with a sealing ring (14) having outer sealing surfaces for engaging the inner sealing surfaces of the tubular members. The improvement lies in the provision of an insert sleeve (20) having a tapered portion (24) and a tubular portion (22). The insert sleeve is cold forged in place over a damaged sealing surface of one of the tubular members and has a tapered inner sealing surface for sealing with the outer surface of the sealing ring. This improved joint is particularly useful in subsea wellheads. The tight gripping and sealing engagement of the insert sleeve (20) within the tubular member is augmented by grooves (32) within a recess (30) on the interior of the tubular member being repaired or sharp annular teeth around the exterior of the tubular portion of the insert sleeve. In a modified form of the invention, the insert sleeve includes external sharp teeth which when cold forged into a housing recess will dig into the recess surface to provide the tight gripping and sealing engagement. Further a test port is provided to determine the effectiveness of the sealing engagement of the insert sleeve within the housing.