Pulsed Nd-YAG laser welding of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor fuel elements

End plug welding of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) fuel elements involves welding of fully Austenitic Stainless Steel (ASS) of grade D9 clad tube with 316M end plug. Pulsed Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) is being used for the production of PFBR fuel elements at Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility (AFFF). GTAW is an established process for end plug welding and hence adopted by many countries. GTAW has got certain limitations like heat input, arc gap sensitivity and certain sporadic defects like tungsten inclusion. Experiments have been carried out at AFFF to use Laser Beam Welding (LBW) technique as LBW offers a number of advantages over the former process. This report mainly deals with the optimization of laser parameters for welding of PFBR fuel elements. To facilitate pulsed Nd-YAG laser spot welding, parameters like peak power, pulse duration, pulse energy, frequency and defocusing of laser beam on to the work piece have been optimized. On the basis of penetration requirement laser welding parameters have been optimized. (author)