Patent Number: 050698656
Section: claims

1. A method of forming a gripper cavity in a nuclear fuel rod end plug, comprising the steps of: (a) providing an end plug blank having an internal bore of substantially uniform diameter that opens at an annular outer rim on said end plug blank;  (b) cold forming said end plug blank to produce an intermediate end plug in which said annular outer rim is transformed into a conical outer rim having an internal surface rounded with respect to a circumferential center point about the base axis that defines an inlet opening to said internal bore of a diameter less than that of said internal bore; and  (c) removing an external layer of material from said intermediate end plug and an internal layer of material from said rounded internal surface of said conical outer rim to produce a finished end plug having an internal gripper cavity composed of said internal bore and a cylindrical internal surface defining said inlet opening to said internal bore and being of smaller diameter than said internal bore.  (a) providing an end plug blank having a longitudinal axis and being composed of an inner portion having a cylindrical external surface of a first diameter, an outer portion having a cylindrical external surface of a second diameter being less than said first diameter of said inner portion, and a middle portion having a conical external surface extending between and interconnecting said cylindrical external surfaces of said inner and outer portions, said inner, middle and outer portions extending along and symmetrically about said longitudinal axis;  (b) drilling an internal bore of uniform diameter in said end plug blank through said outer and middle portions thereof and into said inner portion thereof so as to define a continuous internal cylindrical surface having a constant diameter and extending concentrically about said longitudinal axis of said end plug blank and concentric with said cylindrical external surfaces of said inner and outer portions of said end plug blank such that said outer portion of said end plug blank defines an annular cylindrical outer rim;  (c) cold forming said end plug blank to produce an intermediate end plug in which said annular cylindrical outer rim of said end plug blank is transformed into a conical outer rim having an internal surface rounded with respect to a circumferential center point about the base axis and conical external surface, said rounded internal surface defining an inlet opening to said internal bore of smaller diameter than said internal bore, said conical external surface providing an extension of said conical external surface of said middle portion of said end plug blank; and  (d) machining said intermediate end plug to remove an external layer of material from said intermediate end plug and an internal layer of material from said rounded internal surface of said conical outer rim to produce a finished end plug having an internal gripper cavity composed of said internal bore and a cylindrical internal surface defining said inlet opening to said internal bore being of smaller diameter than said internal bore.  (a) machining a solid bar of material to produce an end plug blank having a longitudinal axis and being composed of an inner portion having a cylindrical external surface of a first diameter, an outer portion having a cylindrical external surface of a second diameter being less than said first diameter of said inner portion, and a middle portion having a conical external surface extending between and interconnecting said cylindrical external surfaces of said inner and outer portions, said inner, middle and outer portions extending along and symmetrically about said longitudinal axis of said end plug blank;  (b) drilling an internal bore of uniform diameter in said end plug blank through said outer and middle portions thereof and into said inner portion thereof so as to define a continuous internal cylindrical surface having a constant diameter extending concentrically about said longitudinal axis of said end plug blank and concentric with said cylindrical external surfaces of said inner and outer portions of said end plug blank such that said outer portion of said end plug blank is formed into an annular cylindrical outer rim;  (c) cold forming said end plug blank to produce an intermediate end plug in which said annular cylindrical outer rim of said end plug blank is transformed into a conical outer rim having an internal surface rounded with respect to a circumferential center point about the base axis and conical external surface, said rounded internal surface defining an inlet opening to said internal bore being of smaller diameter than said internal bore, said conical external surface providing an extension of said conical external surface of said middle portion of said end plug blank; and  (d) machining said intermediate end plug to remove a external layer of material from said intermediate end plug and an internal layer of material from said rounded internal surface of said conical outer rim to produce a finished end plug having an internal gripper cavity composed of said internal bore and a cylindrical internal surface defining said inlet opening to said internal bore and being of smaller diameter than said internal bore. 2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said end plug blank has a longitudinal axis and is composed of an inner portion having an external surface, an outer portion having an external surface of a diameter less than that of said external surface of said inner portion, and a middle portion having a conical external surface extending between and interconnecting said external surfaces of said inner and outer portions. 3. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said internal bore opens at said outer portion and extends through said outer and middle portions and at least partially into said inner portion so as to define said annular outer rim at said outer portion. 4. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said intermediate end plug produced by said cold forming has a conical external surface that is an extension of said conical external surface of said middle portion of said end plug blank. 5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said providing includes machining a solid bar of material to produce said end plug blank. 6. The method as recited in claim 5 wherein said providing includes drilling said solid bar of material to produce said internal bore of uniform diameter in said end plug blank. 7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said cold forming includes rotating said end plug blank about a longitudinal axis. 8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein said cold forming further includes advancing a plurality of rollers into contact with said annular outer rim on said end plug blank until said annular outer rim is transformed into said conical outer rim. 9. A method of forming a gripper cavity in a nuclear fuel rod end plug, comprising the steps of: 10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein said providing includes machining a solid bar of material to produce said end plug blank. 11. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said drilling includes drilling said solid bar of material to produce said internal bore of uniform diameter in said end plug blank. 12. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein said cold forming includes rotating said end plug blank about said longitudinal axis. 13. The method as recited in claim 12 wherein said cold forming further includes advancing a plurality of rollers into contact with said annular outer rim on said end plug blank until said annular outer rim is transformed into said conical outer rim. 14. A method of forming a gripper cavity in a nuclear fuel rod end plug, comprising the steps of: 15. The method as recited in claim 14 wherein said cold forming includes rotating said end plug blank about said longitudinal axis. 16. The method as recited in claim 15 wherein said cold forming further includes advancing a plurality of rollers into contact with said annular outer rim on said end plug blank until said annular outer rim is transformed into said conical outer rim.