Circumferential Sampling Tool for Pressure Tube Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current sampling tools face difficulties in obtaining samples from pressure tubes, particularly in rolled joint areas due to high axial hydrogen/deuterium concentration gradients and circumferential ripples, which complicates in-situ sampling without damaging the tube or requiring excessive heating.
Innovation Solution
A circumferential sampling tool with two cutters that move radially and are actuated by rollers and springs to extend and retract, allowing for controlled removal of the interior wall portion and sample from the tube, ensuring minimal damage and accurate sampling without heating the surface excessively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a sampling tool is used to obtain samples from the interior wall of a pressure tube, then in-situ sampling is enabled without pressure tube removal, but obtaining useful samples in rolled joint areas becomes difficult due to high axial gradient of hydrogen/deuterium concentration and circumferential ripples
Solution Approach 1:
The sampling tool divides the cutting function into two separate cutters: a first cutter that removes the oxide layer and a second cutter that collects the sample. This segmentation allows each cutter to be optimized for its specific function, enabling effective sampling in challenging areas like rolled joints by maintaining structural integrity and avoiding heating
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from axial sampling to circumferential sampling by rotating the cutters around the tube's circumference. This dimensional change allows the tool to sample rolled joint areas effectively, avoiding the high axial gradient issues that plague traditional axial sampling methods
2Productivity
If the first cutter extends through the aperture to cut the interior wall, then effective material removal is achieved, but the cutter must be precisely controlled to avoid damaging the tube structure
Solution Approach 1:
The first cutter performs preliminary action by removing the oxide layer before the second cutter collects the sample. This preliminary removal of the oxidized surface layer ensures that the subsequent sampling occurs on fresh material, improving sample quality while controlling the depth and location of material removal to prevent structural damage
Solution Approach 2:
The first cutter acts as an intermediary that prepares the surface for the second cutter. By removing the oxide layer first, it creates optimal conditions for the second cutter to collect a representative sample, thereby enabling effective sampling while maintaining tube integrity through controlled, staged material removal
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables effective sampling in challenging areas like rolled joints by maintaining structural integrity and avoiding heating, allowing for reliable deuterium concentration analysis of pressure tubes.
Implementation Method 1
A first actuator is operatively connected to the first cutter for moving the first cutter between the retracted position and the extended position as the shaft rotates. The first actuator mechanically biases the first cutter toward the retracted position.
Data Source
AI summary
A circumferential sampling tool for obtaining a sample from an interior wall of a tube has a cylindrical body with an aperture therein. First and second cutters are operatively connected to a shaft for rotation therewith. The first and second cutter are each movable radially between a retracted position and an extended position. First and second actuators are operatively connected to the first and second cutters respectively for moving the first and second cutters between their respective retracted and extended positions as the shaft rotates. Rotating the shaft causes the first cutter to move to the extended position thereby cutting a portion of the interior wall and then causes the second cutter to move to the extended position thereby cutting the sample from the interior wall from a location in the tube revealed by cutting the portion of the interior wall.