Shinya Sakamoto

Anisotropy of the Stress-Strain Curves for Line Pipe Steels

To suppress the appearance of Luders strain and to decrease yield to tensile strength ratio in the L-direction (longitudinal direction), as well as the C-direction (circumferential direction), have been more important for strain-based design. In this study, conventional UOE and ERW pipes were examined in terms of tensile properties in both directions. In the case of UOE pipes, yield point was clearly observed on the stress-strain curve in the C-direction. However, stress-strain curves in the L-direction showed the round-house type. This difference became prominent after heat treatment for the anti-corrosion. Namely, clear Luders strain appeared in the C-direction at a lower aging temperature compared with that in the L-direction. On the other hand, contrasting results were obtained in the case for ERW pipes. Thus far, it’s been thought that the difference between UOE and ERW pipe was caused by the direction of final strain during the pipe forming process. There are also differences in the occurrence of Luders strain between each grade. A stress-strain curve maintained the round-house type in X100 grade pipe after the heat treatment at 240°C for five minutes; however, X70 grade pipe showed the stress-strain curve in the L-direction with Luders strain after the heat treatment at the same temperature.Copyright

Application of B-Added Low Carbon Bainite Steels to X80 UOE Line Pipe for Ultra Low Temperature Usage

Demand for high strength line pipes is increasing because of the reduction in natural gas transportation costs of pipelines. Low temperature toughness is required for high strength line pipes. Reduction in manufacturing cost of high strength linepipes is also required in an environment where alloying cost is increasing. To meet these requirements, boron (B) addition is extremely useful because the addition of very small amounts of B remarkably improves the strength and low temperature toughness. B-added low carbon bainite (LCB) line pipes with American Petroleum Institute (API) grade X60 to X80 have been developed for several decades [1–2]. B-added LCB steels have excellent low temperature toughness, however, it is challenging to achieve excellent crack initiation resistance and crack arrestability for ultra low temperatures such as −60°C. In particular, it is very difficult to achieve both excellent Drop Weight Tear Test (DWTT) properties of base metal, and excellent Charpy V-Notched (CVN) properties of seam welds in heavier wall thickness of X80 UOE linepipe. Metallurgical concepts such as the optimum chemical compositions, Thermo Mechanical Control Process (TMCP) conditions and seam weld conditions of B-added LCB steels with API grade X80 for ultra low temperature have been proposed in order to achieve the excellent mechanical properties even in a low manufacturing cost. Based on this concept, excellent DWTT properties of base metal and CVN properties of the seam welds of API grade X80 line pipe with 25mm thickness down to –60°C were obtained.Copyright

Mass Production of X-80 Plate for Bovanenkovo–Ukhta (Yamal-Europe) Gas Pipeline in Russia

This paper describes metallurgical design concept and mass production result of heavy plates for Bovanenkovo-Ukhta (Yamal-Europe) Gas Pipeline project.The metallurgical design concept was taken as (1) a dual phase microstructure consisting of fine dispersed ferrite and bainite for high strength and high toughness, (2) control of accelerated cooling stop temperature for achieving high yield strength (YS).In the mass production, the narrow range of strength and elongation and excellent low temperature toughness was achieved (CVN energy at −40°C, and DWTT shear area at −20°C).Copyright