Investigation of Swell-Out Phenomenon at Seal Welding of Tubing and Its Preventative Technology

Study on Welding of Zirconium Alloy Tubing (Report 1)

Abstract

The swell-out phenomenon will occur at seal welding of a receptacle such as tubing which has some inner gas volume.
This study has been conducted to make clear this phenomenon experimentally and to develop its preventative technology at the seal welding of Zircaloy-2 tubing.
The swell-out ocurred at inside of welded metal when the pressure difference between inside and outside reached a critical value by increase of inside pressure, and the swell-out was developed toward outside as the pressure increased.
We have developed a welding technology to effectively prevent the swell-out above.