An automated welding system for sealing high level radioactive waste containers in the field at the nuclear plant site. The system includes a programmable portable robotic welder comprising a multi-jointed articulating robotic arm. A welding head operable to form a weld is mounted to the arm. Operation of the robotic welder and ancillary components is controlled by a programmable controller which implements a welding plan. In one embodiment, a circumferentially-extending lid-to-shell hermetic seal weld may be formed by the robotic welder. The weld is completed in multiple welding passes through the weld joint between the lid and shell guided by an automated joint tracking sensor linked to the controller. The highly portable robotic welder is detachably mountable on the lid to perform the welding. An automated pivotable cable-conduit management apparatus keeps electrically conductive wiring and flow tubing out of the path of the rotating robotic arm during welding.

Disclosed is a modular purge chamber system designed to create precision-controlled inert or reactive gas environments for welding titanium, zirconium, aluminum, and other oxidation-prone metals. The system preferably addresses persistent challenges in maintaining atmospheric isolation during welding operations while improving accessibility and gas efficiency compared to traditional trailing shields.

A high-heat-input combined welding method for thick-walled high-strength steel includes following steps. First, a steel plate to be welded is machined into an asymmetric double-sided V-groove, with a depth of a front groove ranging from 30 mm to 40 mm. Then, electrogas welding is used to fill and weld the front groove, with a single-pass heat input controlled below 300 KJ/cm. Finally, a back groove is filled and welded, ensuring that the single-pass heat input for the back groove does not exceed that of the front groove. By adopting an asymmetric double-sided V-groove, the steel plate to be welded is divided into front and back sections. The depth of the groove is restricted to limit the heat input during filling welding.

A system, a non-transitory computer readable medium for executing instructions, and a method for fabricating a subsea connector, including selecting a substrate on which to form the subsea connector, positioning the substrate on a welding positioner base, and applying a first weld bead using a first multiple axis robot, applying a second weld bead using a second multiple axis robot, forming a plurality of weld bead layers comprising the first weld bead and the second weld bead, and forming a subsea connector formed from the plurality of weld bead layers.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed relating to mixing fluids in welding-type equipment. In some examples, a welding-type power supply (and/or wire feeder) may include multiple fluid paths through which to provide fluid from multiple fluid reservoirs to multiple welding-type tools. The power supply may be configured to automatically control fluid flow rates through the fluid paths via proportional valves. Further, the welding-type power supply may be configured to allow and/or prohibit mixing of fluids from different flow paths via control of various valves.

A method for using a plasma torch includes delivering a plasma gas through a plasma gas flow channel of a plasma torch while ionizing the plasma gas to produce a plasma arc that extends between the electrode and the workpiece. Additionally, shield fluid is delivered through a shield flow channel at a first pressure. A piercing operation to produce a pierce hole in the workpiece using the plasma arc is initiated while the shield fluid is delivered through the shield flow channel at the first pressure. After conducting the piercing operation for an amount of time, the shield fluid is delivered to the shield flow channel at a second pressure that is higher than the first pressure. Subsequent to the piercing operation, performing a cutting operation that forms a cut in the workpiece that originates at and extends away from a boundary of the pierce hole.

A torch assembly for additive manufacturing is described. The torch assembly can apply at least two arcs surrounding a feed wire during an additive manufacturing process. The additional arc provides better shielding functions during the process.