TWI has recently begun work on a collaborative project, FSWBot, which aims to develop a repair technique for subsea pipelines.
The project, sponsored by UKTI and led by Forth Engineering, seeks to integrate several advanced technologies, including friction stir welding (FSW) and ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) onto a robotic system that can be deployed to conduct repairs on pipelines without the need for the pipeline to be closed down for the duration of the repair.
The project will develop and demonstrate a prototype system capable of conducting a patch repair in steel to allow rectification of, for example, a corrosion-induced defect.
If successful, it is envisaged that the system could be further developed to carry out a range of subsea repair and fabrication tasks.