Electromagnetic Welding of Tubular Joints for Nuclear Applications

Electromagnetic Welding (EMW) technology is a promising and new manufacturing technology for welding of stainless steel alloys and aluminium alloys for nuclear applications. It has significant advantages over conventional welding techniques. A primary characteristic of this process is the use of non-contact electromagnetic forces to achieve welding of various metal workpieces. In this process, the welding is carried out by impact, when the workpieces are accelerated towards each other by the Lorentz force, produced due to magnetic field and the induced current in workpiece. The capacitor bank is required for generating high pulse discharge current at high frequency in the coil, which generates maximum magnetic pressure on the workpiece to obtain the weld. Electromagnetic Welding machines and weld coils are designed and developed for the welding of aluminium (Al 6061) and stainless steel (SS316L) alloys. This technique enables us to join similar and dissimilar metals, which are very difficult to weld by other conventional welding techniques.