Critical element development of standard components for pipe welding/cutting by CO(sub 2) laser

摘要

In D-T burning reactors such as International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER), an internal access is inevitable for welding/cutting of cooling pipes of in-vessel components, because of spatial constraint due to a narrow port opening space. An internal-access pipe welding/cutting equipment is being developed in JAERI. Internal access is to approach through inside a pipe to a welding/cutting position, to use 10kW CO(sub 2) laser beam, and to be applicable to both welding and cutting with using a same processing head. A welding/cutting processing head with 10kW CO(sub 2) laser beam has been fabricated and the basic feasibility has been successfully demonstrated for studies of the internal-access pipe welding/cutting concept using 100-A stainless steel pipe with a thickness of 6.3mm. In this study, the optimum focal point of laser beam, laser power and traveling speed of the head have been investigated together with an adjusting mechanism of a relative distance between the head and the pipe wall. In addition, the radiation resistance of critical elements such as optical lens has been investigated. (author). (ERA citation 20:020428)