EVALUATION OF ROBOTICS FOR FLANGE BOLTING

ALL FUSION MACHINE CONCEPTS HAVE ADOPTED A MAINTENANCE PHILOSOPHY FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING OF FAILED COMPONENTS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE MACHINE DOWNTIME FOR REPAIR. MANY COMPONENTS ARE CONNECTED TO THE MACHINE BY LARGE BOLTED FLANGES. THE UNBOLTING AND BOLTING OPERATIONS ARE TO BER PERFORMED BY WORKERS WEARING PROTECTIVE CLOTHING WITH AIR-SUPLIED HOODS AND USING HAND- HELD POWER TOOLS. EXPERIENCE AT MANUFACTURING PLANTS HAS SHOWN ROBOTICS EQUIPMENT TO BE FASTER THAN HUMAN WORKERS FOR THIS TYPE OF OPERATION. THIS PROGRAM WILL EVALUATE WAYE TO ADAPT EXISTING INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS TORQUING EQUIPMENT FOR USE ON BOLTED FLANGES AT FUSION MACHINES. A PERFERRED APPROACH WILL BE SELECTED, AND A CONCEPT DESIGN WILL BE DEVELOPED. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE A BOLTING ROBOT THAT IS USABLE ON A WIDE RANGE OF FLANGE SIZES AND SHAPES TO REDUCE BOTH THE TIME REQUIRED FOR PERFORMING THE WORK AND THE RADIATION EXPOSURE TO WORKERS. PHASE II WILL INCLUDE THE DETAILED DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND DEMONSTRATION TEST- ING OF THE ROBOTIC DEVICE AT THE PRINCETON TOKAMAK FUSION TEST REACTOR.