Patent ID: 6020571
Filing Date: 2000-02-01
Classification: B23K

Abstract:
A method of welding a superalloy article, the method comprising the steps of:establishing a welding temperature profile for a superalloy article;placing the superalloy article in an enclosure so that a localized region of the article is adjacent to an induction coil within the enclosure, the enclosure further having means for sensing a temperature of the localized region and means for controlling heat output of the induction coil based on the temperature of the localized region and according to the welding temperature profile;operating the induction coil, the sensing means and the controlling means to heat the localized region of the article with the induction coil according to the welding temperature profile; and thenwelding the localized region of the article by polarity-reversing plasma transferred arc welding at a current of 0.1 to about 45 amps while maintaining the temperature of the localized region with the induction coil according to the welding temperature profile, the induction coil having a greater heating effect on the localized region than the polarity-reversing plasma transferred arc welding.