Patent ID: 7152657

Claim:
A method of in-situ casting well equipment wherein a metal is used which expands upon solidification, the method comprising the steps of: placing a first body of said metal in a cavity in a well; bringing said first body at a temperature above the melting point of the metal; and cooling down said first body to below the melting point of the metal, thereby solidifying the metal of said first body in the cavity, wherein the cavity is an annular cavity between a pair of co-axial well tubulars, the first body being axially restrained in the cavity by a second body of metal which expands upon solidification, and wherein the metal of the second body solidifies at a higher temperature than the metal of the first body, the method further comprising: placing the second body in the annular cavity axially displaced from the first body; melting said bodies by raising the temperature of said bodies; and solidifying said bodies by lowering the temperature of said bodies, whereby the metal of the second body solidifies before the metal of the first body thereby axially restraining the first body.