LaserPipe - Remote in-bore laser welding of nuclear pipelines

Nuclear sites require regular maintenance to replace and/or repair corroded/deteriorated pipes. A result of the challenging environment, confined space and limited external access is that external orbital cutting and welding processes are not viable for many applications, and, consequently, in-bore remote processing has generated significant interest in recent years. The LaserPipe project will develop a compact in-bore laser welding head and investigate the procedures for an all positional laser welding process. The resulting in-bore processing system will integrate the compact laser welding head to a snake-arm robot, to demonstrate remote locating of weld joint, aligning laser beam path and perform in-bore laser welding. The same tool can also be employed for in-bore laser cutting and pre/post-weld heat-treatment, thus reducing the capital investment necessary for in-bore pipe processing operations, and improving related productivity.