Orbital welding

Fewer joints. Fewer leak paths. Lower installed cost.

Automated orbital GTAW on stainless tube for ultra-high-purity gas systems. Each fitting a weld replaces is a part you do not buy, a joint you do not make up, and a leak path you do not have to test.

The cost case

Welding is the cheaper system.

Procurement asks about quality. The stronger argument is cost, and it is the one we lead with.

A high-purity gas system is mostly connections. Built with NPT and compression fittings, every one of them is a purchased part, a make-up operation, a leak test, and a point that can loosen over the life of the line. Multiply that across a distribution system and it is the fittings, not the tube, that drive the installed cost.

An orbital weld replaces the fitting with a joint that is made once, inspected once, and then behaves like the tube on either side of it. We weld the runs and keep mechanical fittings for the points that have to come apart: instruments, equipment connections, and isolation for maintenance.

Fewer mechanical joints means fewer leak paths. Fewer leak paths means a shorter test programme, a shorter punchlist, and a system that stays tight after handover.

How we weld

Method, people, inspection, equipment.

The four things a project engineer asks for before the first weld, in the order they usually ask.

Process

  • Automated orbital GTAW on stainless steel tube
  • Ultra-high-purity gas service
  • Tube ends faced square before fit-up, with BRS facing tools

Method and people

  • Written orbital welding methodology document, available for your review
  • Welder competency certification
  • Weld parameters set up and checked on a coupon before production welds

Inspection

  • Coupon cut from the setup weld: bore and heat tint checked
  • Third-party non-destructive testing
  • Radiographic testing
  • Dye penetrant testing

Equipment

  • BRS-owned orbital welding machines
  • BRS-owned weld heads and facing tools
  • Supplied through a Singapore specialist since 2021

Testing after welding

  • Helium leak testing on gas sticks and hook-up lines
  • Moisture and oxygen content analysis
  • Particle-count analysis at cleanroom level
Testing and handover

Records

  • Test reports and NDT results in the format your acceptance requires
  • As-built drawings, punchlists and handover dossier
  • Permit-to-Operate package

Before production welds run

The coupon comes first.

We cut a coupon from the setup weld and check the bore and the heat tint. If either is not right, the setup is corrected before a production weld is made.

Mirror-finish interior bore of an orbital weld coupon, showing a smooth and even penetration bead Weld coupon held in the hand, showing the heat-tint bands on the outside and the polished bore inside Gloved hand holding a weld coupon with gold and purple heat-tint bands along the weld seam Gloved hand presenting a weld coupon bore for inspection at the tooling station

Coupon inspection at the tooling station: the penetration bead on the bore, and the heat-tint bands on the outside of the seam.

In progress

Technician clamping an orbital weld head onto stainless tubing at the fabrication station Technician working at an orbital welder control unit inside the cleanroom Cleanroom crew preparing a wrapped process canister for orbital welding beside the welder control unit Gowned technicians setting up a wrapped process canister on its stand in the cleanroom

What we weld

Where orbital welding goes in a gas system.

The runs are welded. Mechanical fittings stay where the system has to come apart.

Cleanroom and sub-fab

  • Tool hook-up above the plenum
  • Tool hook-up at cleanroom level
  • Cleanroom gas-stick piping
  • Valve manifold box and gas-cabinet source hook-up
See a fab base build

Distribution and shop

  • Main-source to sub-distribution gas lines
  • Vacuum and bulk-gas piping
  • Gas panel skids fabricated in the Biñan shop and welded before delivery
See a distribution project
Orbital weld head clamped to stainless tool hook-up tubing inside the cleanroom
Weld head clamped on tool hook-up tubing at cleanroom level.

Send the isometrics.

Tube sizes, material specification, NDT coverage, contracting mode and target dates. We acknowledge every RFQ the same business day.

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