Decades of Excellence
For many years, BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) has been producing zirconium tubing products for energy markets around the world. Today, we continue to serve this industry while expanding into adjacent markets including welded tubes made from titanium and stainless steel for use as sputter targets.
Product Offerings
BWXT’s Stainless Steel Backing Tubes (ES133) are designed and fabricated to meet and/or exceed customer end use requirements. The dimensional tube tolerance and surface properties exceed current industry standards and requirements. Our precision Backing Tubes achieve circularity and straightness properties which are near perfection, thus providing our customers with a reliable product that achieves high quality, smooth rotational motion for subsequent target fabrication.
Tube Processing
Our Backing Tubes are processed using the same technology applied to products fabricated for the use in nuclear reactors where performance and exacting dimensional tolerances are critical for the safe and reliable operation of nuclear reactors. The product is mechanically formed, seam welded, cold worked and heat treated to achieve weld properties including tensile strength and ductility that closely represent the mechanical properties of the parent material.
Quality Inspection
Our tubes are subjected to a host of production inspections before they are fully certified for shipment.
These inspections include:
- Ultrasonic Test
- Pneumatic Leak Test
- Dimensional Inspection with Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) Technology
- Video Scope of the Tube’s Inner surface
- Surface Roughness Test