Product Bulletin PR-6.

11-2009Feb13-EXT
Rev. 11 – 12 January 2017

Grant Prideco™
NOV Wellbore Technologies
Product Management Dept.
10100 Houston Oaks Dr.
Houston, TX 77064
+1 (281) 921-3600 main
nov.com/grantprideco/

Rotary-Shoulder Connection Refacing

Summary
During the life of a rotary-shouldered connection, it is possible that the sealing face (primary
torque shoulder) of the connection is damaged and requires a refacing operation to be
performed. All API connections and most of NOV Grant Prideco proprietary connections
(GPDS™, HT™, XT™, XT-F™, Delta™, TurboTorque™, uGPDS™, uXT™, DC™, SST™, SRT™) can have
their primary and if applicable secondary shoulders refaced. However, there is a limit to the
amount of material that may be removed from shoulders during the refacing operation.
Most connections are supplied with benchmarks that provide a reference for the maximum
amount of material that may be removed from the sealing shoulder before the connection
requires re-machining of the thread body.

Introduction
The connection sealing shoulder (primary torque shoulder) can be damaged in different ways.
The most common causes of seal face damage are:
 miss-handling
 miss-stabbing
 galling during makeup/breakout due to a lack of dope or the presence of foreign
particles in the dope
 corrosion and pitting.
The seal surface should be free of galls, nicks, washes, fins, or other conditions that would
adversely affect its stability or pressure holding capacity. Damage that does not exceed the

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depth and width permitted per the field inspection procedures are acceptable. If the damage
exceeds these limits, the connection must be refaced to repair the seal surface.

Understanding Refacing
When originally machined the pin and box connections engage without contact between the
thread root and the thread crest, and also between thread stabbing flanks. The only surfaces
that are in contact are the shoulder(s) and the thread load flank. Refer to Figure 1.
Now, consider that the pin shoulder is refaced 1/32”. If the refaced pin is made up to the exact
same position as before, there would be a 1/32” gap between the shoulders. Refer to Figure 2.
In order to close this gap, additional rotation is necessary to further advance the pin into the
box resulting in a reduction in the clearance between stabbing flanks and also between thread
root and thread crest of the other member as illustrated in Figure 3.
In the case of a box refacing, the effect is identical. The clearance reduction from additional
refacing operations will accumulate
If the total refacing limit is exceeded, interference between thread flanks will occur resulting in:

 insufficient pressure on the sealing face after makeup that could lead to a washout of
the connection.
 overloading of the connection members with possible permanent deformation or
galling.
In both cases, the connection will require re-machining.
API requires benchmarking of drill pipe connections. Both API and NOV™ Grant Prideco™
proprietary 360-degree benchmarks offer a reference that indicates the refacing limit.
The recommended procedure for refacing is to remove the minimum amount of material
required to bring the connection back into an acceptable state per the field inspection
procedures while not exceeding 1/32” (0.031”) in a single refacing operation. If the connection
is not acceptable and the 1/32” limit was not reached in the previous refacing(s), additional
operations may be attempted until the 1/32” limit for a single refacing is reached. If the
connection cannot be brought back into compliance with the field inspection procedures
without exceeding the 1/32” limit, it must be rethreaded. In most cases this only requires a
chase and face of the connection. Alternatively, if the refacing operation is successful then the
connection must be placed back into service to allow some thread adjustment prior to any
subsequent attempts for refacing. After the maximum amount of material has been removed
from the primary shoulder, through multiple refacing operations, the connection shall be

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rethreaded (typically chased and faced). The maximum allowable amount of material removal
is:
 1 /16” for GPmark™ and Xmark™ benchmarks,
 3/32” for GPmark+ and Xmark+ benchmarks (on Delta™ connection).
To be effective, the refacing must maintain the primary shoulder square to the thread body
axis. Performing the refacing operation on a lathe is preferred.

API Benchmark
The API benchmark is shown in Figure 4. A reference mark (tangent bar) is stenciled on the pin
land and the box counterbore at a position 1/8” from the sealing face. By measuring distance
from the stencil to the shoulder the amount of material that may be removed can be
determined. The benchmark must be reapplied when the connection is re-machined.

GPmark (previously known as H-SERIES™ benchmark) and GPmark+

This patented benchmark provides a 360-degree reference for refacing the shoulders. As shown
in Figure 5 for the GPmark, a 1/8” wide step is machined onto the pin base adjacent to the
primary (sealing) shoulder. Similarly, a 1/8” wide step is machined onto the box counterbore
adjacent to the primary shoulder for the GPmark. Unlike the API “tangent bar,” this step
provides a reference that is visible from any position around the connection’s circumference.
The GPmark+ is a variation for the Delta™ connection that comes with a 0.094” wide shoulder
to benchmark length on pins and 0.156” on boxes. It has been offset so that the stop refacing
limit is similar to this of GPmark™. This way the cut off points is the same for inspection, making
it easier.
For both the GP mark and the GPmark™+, when the face to benchmark distance is 3/16”
(0.188”) for pins and 1/16” (0.063”) for boxes, the connection needs to be rethreaded. The
amount of remaining material available for refacing can be easily determined with a pocket
scale. The benchmarks are machined by the CNC machine tool during the threading process.
This results in an accurate placement of the reference surface.
Pin stress relief groove considerations
Note that both the API and Grant Prideco benchmarks should not be applied to the
highly stressed area of API rotary-shouldered connections pin stress relief grooves.

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Xmark and Xmark+
By placing a refacing benchmark on the external bevel of the connection (See Figure 6), the
Xmark benchmark allows a simple determination to be made as to how much space is
remaining to reface the connection prior to re-machining. Xmark is the clear solution to
refacing limit uncertainty and the only practical method of applying benchmarks to connections
having stress relief grooves, such as drill collars and heavyweight drill pipe.
An advantage of the Xmark™ benchmark is that it reveals not only the extent of refacing, but
also how perpendicular the refaced seal is to the pipe axis. Xmark’s user-friendly design
eliminates both the measurement and the math.
In the new condition the face to benchmark length is 1/8” (0.125”) for both pins and boxes for
Xmark™ and 5/32” (0.156”) for the Xmark+.
With both types of benchmark, the point at which the connection needs to be rethreaded is
when the benchmark reference has just disappeared. In no way shall the refacing be carried
out passed that reference benchmark face.

Double-shoulder additional requirements

Double-shoulder connections have one external shoulder that functions as a seal and a torque
shoulder and one internal shoulder that functions only as a mechanical stop, which we also
reference as the torque shoulder, but which is not a seal. Double-shouldered connections
require that both shoulders be re-faced at the same time, maintaining the distance between
shoulders within requirement. Please review applicable Field Inspection Procedures section on
Box Connection Length for clarification. Failure to do so will result in improper loading of the
connection and could result in washouts, fatigue or mechanical failure. Note that a step can
form at the base of the primary shoulder during refacing operations due to the difficulty to find
the true axis of the connection. This is considered as an acceptable condition, which is not
detrimental to the connection performance. Similarly, a step could form near the secondary
shoulder of the box connection, which is also deemed as acceptable. Refer to Figure 7 for
graphic illustration.

Non-refaceable connections
Gas-tight connections with internal metal-to-metal seals (XT-M™, TT-M™, TF-M™, CT-M™,
GT-M™, MaXit™) must not be refaced as the relative positions of the internal shoulder, external

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shoulder and metal-to-metal seal surface must be maintained for the connection to function
properly.
Some of these connections can only be redressed by a qualified NOV™ Grant Prideco™ licensed
machine shop. Please confirm with the licensee or your Grant Prideco representative.

Conclusion
Most connections can be refaced but it is important that the pipe owner understands how
refacing is applied to different types of connections. Refacing is limited to 1/32” maximum per
refacing operations. The connection shall be put back in service between refacing operations.
There is an absolute limit to cumulative refacing of 1/16” for GPmark™ and Xmark™
benchmarks and 3/32” for GPmark+ and Xmark+. Excessive refacing can lead to either washouts
or failure of the connection.
Most NOV Grant Prideco proprietary double shoulder connections can be refaced with
exception to those with an internal gas-tight metal-to-metal seal. For refacing, one should keep
in mind that the distance between shoulders should also be maintained and that both
shoulders will have to be refaced. Please review Field Inspection Procedures for dimensional
inspection information.

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Appendices
Thread
crest

Thread Thread
root load flank

Thread
stab flank
Clearance between stab
flanks and between
thread roots and crests

Figure 1. API rotary-shouldered connection dimensions.

1/32”

Figure 2. API rotary-shouldered connection with 1/16” refacing on pin in same position.

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 Reduction of the clearance
between stab flanks and
between thread roots and
crests

Figure 3. API rotary-shouldered connection with 1/16” refacing on pin at with refacing gap closed.

Stenciled mark
1/8” from
sealing face

Figure 4. API Benchmark

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 360° internally
cut groove 1/8”
from sealing face

Figure 5. NOV™ Grant Prideco™ Proprietary GPmark™ benchmark.

360° externally
cut groove 1/16”
from sealing face

Figure 6. NOV Grant Prideco Proprietary Xmark™ Benchmark

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 New With undercut gone With step due to refacing Final recut with step

Figure 7: Stages of pin connection with GPmark™ refacing

Author Marketing & Product Management G. Plessis

Approval Marketing & Product Management G. Plessis
Product Engineering Dan Hannahs

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