Hidenori Shitamoto

Property of X80 Grade SAW Pipes for Resistance to Ground Movement

It is aware that the expansion of gas utilization is an important issue to restrict CO2 emission. The reduction of gas transportation cost is essential to increase gas supply to market. The high-pressure gas pipeline with high strength pipes has contributed for safe and economical transportation of natural gas and is expected more for the future demand of gas. The primary objective of high strength line pipe is to hold high pressure safely. The property in circumferential direction under hoop stress is the primary target of the line pipe. High strength and high toughness steel at low temperature has been developed for large diameter line pipes, which have been supplied to major gas pipelines. The increase of D/T of pipelines for transportation efficiency tends to decrease critical compressive strain. Since long distance pipelines come across various ground conditions, the pipeline might encounter some serious ground movement. It is pointed out that in this event the strain by the ground movement might be high enough to deform pipelines to leak or rupture. There are various forms of ground movement, but the Japanese guideline for earthquake resistance and liquefaction is considered as basic conditions for SBD and for FEA in this study. The relation between pipe deformation and property in axial direction is investigated to identify the effective parameter to design the steel property for gas pipelines. Metallurgical factors and microstructure can change the parameters not only on strength and toughness, but also on the critical strain of X80 line pipes. It is discussed that the effectiveness of those changes to improve the safe operation of high-pressure gas pipelines with X80 grade line pipe.Copyright

Evaluation of Compressive Strain Limit of X80 Saw Pipes With Girth Welding by FE Analysis

The expansion of supply capacity of natural gas to market is expected from the concern of environmental conservation by less CO2 emission. Transportation cost has been focused for natural gas to be competitive in the market. High-pressure gas pipelines have constructed by large diameter and high strength line pipes to improve transportation efficiency of gas transmission pipelines. High strength line pipes have been developed to cope with high-pressure operation. Strength in circumferential direction on line pipe is the prime target to hold high pressure safely. In terms of pipe size, pipe diameter has been increased to lead larger D/t. Both of higher strength and larger D/t result in less favorable to deformability of pipeline. To apply strain based design to pipeline, the evaluation of strain capacity, which is related to deformability of line pipe, is required supposing the pipeline encounters large scale ground movement such as earthquake or landslide. It is not simple to find the criteria to prevent leak or rupture of pipeline in such events, as not only pipe property but also interaction between pipe and soil are needed to consider. Gas transmission pipelines are constructed by joint girth welding. The strain capacity of pipeline with girth weld has to be investigated for strain based design. Full scale bending test of joint welded pipe was conducted and FEA model to assess strain capacity of pipeline with girth weld is developed.Copyright

Effect of Thermal Aging on Strain Capacity of X80 SAW Pipes

Application of API X80 grade line pipes has been promoted to increase the operating pressure. It is generally known that the deformability of submerged arc welding (SAW) pipes is decreased by increasing strength of the pipes. The assessment of the strain capacity of X80 SAW pipes is required for strain-based design (SBD). In the assessment of the strain capacity, one of the important issues is the effect of thermal aging during the anti-corrosion coating on the yielding phenomenon. In this study, full-scale pipe bending tests of X80 SAW pipes produced by UOE process were performed to evaluate the effect of thermal aging on the strain capacity.Copyright

Arc welding of annular seams under flux in high-strength X80 steel pipe

The relation between the content of martensitic-austenitic phase and the final temperature in accelerated cooling is investigated, in terms of the attainment of high deformability without failure. The ratio of the yield point to the strength (Y/T) in the longitudinal direction (L) of X80 steel pipe produced by UOE technology is found to be between 0.74–0.79. This indicates good deformability of the pipe. A welding technology has been developed such that the metal in the seam matches the strength of the X80 steel pipe. In industrial flexure tests, when the internal pressure is 72% of the standard yield point (SMYS) of X80 steel, the failure of X80 steel pipe welded by the given technology occurs in the basic metal, far from the annular weld.

Pipe Bending Test With Girth Welding on X80 Grade SAW Pipes

This study was planned as a part of a test program to confirm the effect of girth welds on the strain capacity of pipes. In this study, full-scale pipe bending tests are performed by using X80 SAW pipe. This paper covers pipe manufacturing procedure, developed welding procedure to obtain even match weld metal and properties of welded joints. And this work demonstrated that the X80 pipes welded under the developed procedure fractured in base metal remote from girth welded portion by full scale pipe bending test conducted under the internal pressure of 72% SMYS of X80.Copyright