What Are The Tube Sheet Grooving Tools?

 What is tube sheet grooving?

Tube sheet grooving is to process grooves of specific shapes (such as annular grooves and V-shaped grooves) on the inner surface of the tube sheet of equipment such as heat exchangers and boilers to enhance the connection strength, sealing and anti-pull-off ability between the tube and the tube sheet. The quality of grooving directly affects the reliability of the tube expansion process and is a key process in industrial manufacturing.

tube sheet grooving tool​

 Core types and features of tube sheet grooving tools

1. Mechanical slotter

Structural composition: main body, tool bar, blade, support customized design

Working principle: radial rotation cutting of the tool head is achieved through eccentric spiral structure or hydraulic drive. For example, the spiral slotter drives the tool bar to rotate through the sliding pin to complete the processing of uniform depth slots

Advantages:

High precision: the slot depth tolerance can be controlled within ±0.02mm, and the surface roughness Ra≤3.2μm

Efficient adaptation: the same tool can cover multiple apertures (such as E1 type 10-32mm, E2 type 38-80mm)

Multi-slot processing: support coaxial multi-slot cutting, consistent slot spacing

2. CNC slotting equipment

CNC milling machine/machining center: with special milling cutter (such as T-slot milling cutter), suitable for complex slots (dovetail slots, special-shaped slots)

Laser slotting machine: non-contact processing, suitable for thin plates (≤10mm) or difficult-to-cut materials such as titanium alloys, without mechanical stress deformation

3. Grooving tools for hydraulic expansion tubes

TMKC series groovers: specially designed for hydraulic strength expansion, can process 8-12mm wide grooves, suitable for high hardness materials such as stainless steel

Operational features: driven by a radial drilling machine, single hole processing only takes 0.5-1 minute, and the efficiency is increased by more than 3 times

Technical Parameters and Selection Guide

1. Key parameters

2. Selection points

Material matching:

Carbon steel/stainless steel: carbide coated tools (such as TiAlN coating) are preferred

Titanium alloy: laser slotting or diamond coated tools

Groove requirements:

Sealing groove: choose wide groove tools (such as TMKC-10 type)

Expansion groove: ensure that the groove bottom is round to avoid stress concentration

Operation process and precautions

1. Standard operation steps

Tool selection: Customize the tool bar and blade according to the hole diameter and slot width

Clamping calibration: Use Morse taper shank (4#/5#) to fix it on the drilling machine to ensure that the verticality error between the tool and the tube sheet is ≤0.02mm/m

Processing debugging: Start at low speed (≤200 rpm), gradually press down to complete the cutting, and avoid overheating of the tool

Quality inspection: Use plug gauges or three-coordinate measuring machines to verify the slot depth, width and position accuracy

2. Safety and maintenance

Lubrication requirements: Regularly add lubricating oil to sliding parts to prevent jamming

Tool maintenance: Replace worn blades in time, and tighten bolts appropriately (avoid over-tightening and causing breakage)

Prohibited operations: It is forbidden to make horizontal grooves on load-bearing wall structures to prevent damage to the overall strength

Industry applications and trends

1. Typical application areas

Energy industry: Processing of sealing grooves of tube sheets of heat exchangers in nuclear power plants

Chemical equipment: Expansion grooves of reactor tube sheets to improve corrosion resistance

Refrigeration system: Multi-groove processing of evaporator tube sheets to ensure refrigerant sealing

2. Technology development trends

Intelligence: Integrated sensors monitor cutting forces in real time and adjust parameters adaptively

Green manufacturing: Promote MQL technology to reduce cutting fluid pollution

Compound processing: Combine laser cutting and machining to achieve high-precision special-shaped grooves

As a "precision carving knife" in industrial manufacturing, the selection and use of tube sheet grooving tools are directly related to the life and safety of the equipment. In the future, with the advancement of material science and intelligent technology, grooving tools will develop in the direction of higher efficiency and lower energy consumption. When selecting, companies need to comprehensively consider material properties, processing requirements and cost-effectiveness to achieve dual optimization of quality and economy.