Fig. 2 — The plan to raise the capsized cruise ship was to weld steel sponsons — seen here on each side of the ship — and join them together to make one integral floating chamber. er so they could be connected to each other. A tubular frame would then be run through each of these joints to attach all the containers together. Hydraulic pistons within the tubes would pressurize the system to further hold the tanks together as one unit. Since it was not possible to introduce a single tube more than 100 m in length, the engineers decided the best solution was to start with a small section of tube approximately 2 m long and push it through the first male/ female joint. Then another section of tube would be welded to the first, which would be pushed through the joints a little further, and another section welded, and so on. This operation would be repeated for the port side, once the ship was raised enough vertically from the initial parbuckling procedure. To remove the excess material from the welds as they were created — both on the interior and exterior of the tubing — Micoperi required a tool that could remove the excess material and worked on an industrial hand-held drill. That’s where the Flex-Hone® from Brush Research Mfg. came into play. The tool contains small, abrasive globules that are permanently mounted to flexible filaments. It is available in many sizes, 11 abrasive types, and eight grits. It works well when handheld because the design is automatically self centering. Using the tool, parts such as carbide bushings, bore sleeves, hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, and other cylindrical cavities can be surface finished on the production line or resurfaced in the field. Micoperi ultimately purchased the BC 3-in. SC 60 and SC 80 tools. The tools also served another important function by smoothing the way for the hydraulic pistons that were introduced into the tubes. Hydraulic toolmakers often use the tool to obtain the proper finish in the cylinder bore. If the hydraulic cylinder finish is too rough, U-cups and seals can wear out. If the cylinder surface is too smooth, hydraulic seals may leak. To allow smooth movement of the pistons and to avoid leakages, the internal tube walls were cleaned and polished with the tool, explained Sven Pilling of Vogel, an Italian distributor of machines tools that Microperi contacted for assistance. Although the Costa Concordia project is now complete, the Flex-Hone® remains a tool for overhaul and repair for marine applications. It is used for cylinder refinishing of big bore (up to 40-in.-diameter) diesel main engines of large vessels as well as smaller diesel generators. The tool can also be used for cleaning pipe bores for pipes or other cylindrical bores such as valves on some pump designs. See us at FABTECH booth N3113 NOVEMBER 2016 / WELDING JOURNAL 35 WJ JEFF ELLIOTT (info@brushresearch.com) is affiliated with Brush Research Manufacturing, Los Angeles, Calif. For info, go to aws.org/adindex
Welding Journal | November 2016
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