Seamless Manufacturing Process

Seamless Pipe
Seamless pipe has been manufactured since the 1800s.
While the process has evolved, certain elements have
remained the same. Seamless pipe is manufactured by
piercing a hot round steel billet with a mandrel. The
hollowed steel is than rolled and stretched to achieve the
desired length and diameter. The main advantage of
seamless pipe is the elimination of seam-related defects;
however, the cost of manufacture is greater.
Early seamless pipe was susceptible to defects caused
by impurities in the steel. As steel-making techniques
improved, these defects were reduced, but they have
not been totally eliminated. While it seems that seamless
pipe would be preferable to formed, seam-welded pipe,
the ability to improve characteristics desirable in pipe is
limited. For this reason, seamless pipe is currently
available in lower grades and wall thicknesses than
welded pipe.
Manufacturing of Seamless Pipe
Seamless steel pipe is produced in the following steps:
Firstly, a hollow primary pipe is formed from a round bloom with the
Mannesmann piercing process, the press piercing process or the like,
and secondly, using a stretching mill, such as a mandrel mill, plug mill
or the like, the hollow primary pipe is further shaped to increase the
diameter thereof and at the same time to reduce the wall thickness
thereof, and thereafter further shaped to form a finished pipe having a
desired size, using a reducing mill, such as a stretch reducer.

1. Plug Mill
This process is used to make larger sizes of seamless pipe, typically 6
to 16 inches (150 to 400 mm) diameter. An ingot of steel weighing up
to two tons is heated to 2,370 F (1,300 C) and pierced. The hole in
the hollow shell is enlarged on a rotary elongator, resulting in a short
thick-walled tube known as a bloom. An internal plug approximately
the same diameter as the finished diameter of the pipe is then forced
through the bloom. The bloom containing the plug is then passed
between the rolls of the plug mill. Rotation of the rolls reduces the wall
thickness. The tube is rotated through 90 for each pass through the
plug mill to ensure roundness. The tube is then passed through a
reeling mill and reducing mill to even out the wall thickness and
produce the finished dimensions. The tube is then cut to length before
heat treatment, final straightening, inspection, and hydrostatic testing.
2. Mandrel Mill
This process is used to make smaller sizes of seamless pipe, typically
1 to 6 inches (25 to 150 mm) diameter. The ingot of steel is heated
to 2,370 F (1,300 C) and pierced. A mandrel is inserted into the
tube and the assembly is passed through a rolling (mandrel) mill.
Unlike the plug mill, the mandrel mill reduces wall thickness
continuously with a series of pairs of curved rollers set at 90 angles
to each other. After reheating, the pipe is passed through a multi -
stand stretch-reducing mill to reduce the diameter to the finished
diameter. The pipe is then cut to length before heat treatment, final
straightening, inspection, and hydrostatic testing.





3. Extrusion
This process is used for small diameter tubes only. The bar stock is
cut to length and
heated to 2,280 F (1,250 C) before being sized and descaled. The
billet is then
extruded through a steel die. After extrusion, the final tube
dimensions and surface
quality are obtained with a multi-stand reducing mill.



SOME NOTES ON SURFACE DEFECTS ON
SEAMLESS PIPE, TYPICAL OF PIERCING BY A
MILL WITH DOUBLE CONICAL ROLLS HAVING
OBLIQUE AXES
using PLUG MILL technology to manufacture
large size Seamless Pipes of diameter up to
14" and wall thickness 40 mm. PLUG MILL
Process is a proven process for manufacturing of
higher diameter Seamless Pipes using a round
billet heating up to the plastic stage of steel and
piercing in across roll piercer. Further elongation
through a plug mill in which the thick wall hot
hollow will be rolled through a pair of top and
bottom roll with a plug inside the hollow to give
better internal surface finish and to control the
ID.
We have received seamless pipes from suppliers i.e.
M/S TENARIS GLOBAL SERVICES S.A., (CS+AS)
M/S ISMT Limited, (CS)
M/S SIDECO SPA, (AS)
M/S TUBACEX TUBOS INOXIDABLES S.A., (AS + SS)
M/S MITTAL STEEL ROMAN S.A., (CS)

M/S MAHARASHTRA SEAMLESS LTD., (CS)

M/S NIKKO BOEKI KAISHA LTD., (AS)
M/S INRADA N V (CS + AS)
M/S TUBACEX TUBOS INOXIDABLES S.A., CS+AS)
M/S TUBOS REUNIDOS, S.A., (CS+AS)
We have found non acceptable defects in approx. 67% of
CS pipes size 8 to 14 supplied by M/S MSL
(on the basis of visual inspection report of TPIA M/S BVIL)
Type of defects & acceptance criteria in visual inspection of
seamless pipes.

As per material specification A 106:- 6 General requirements
Material finish to this specification shall confirm to the applicable requirements of the current edition of
specification A 530/ A 530M unless otherwise provided herein.
Definition of Slivers: Defects in the nature of irregularly shaped pieces of steel clinging loosely to
finished steel. Slivers may result from defective composition (over-oxidized, high sulfur); defective
teeming of molten steel; defective heating (burning); tearing of corners in early stages of rolling; etc.
As per A 106 acceptable up to 5% of nominal wall thickness.
But Extent of defects in ID surface cant be judge by visual inspection. Hence not acceptable.
Definition of Laps: Defects in steel caused by splashing of the molten metal when pouring it
into the ingot mould. They appear as a crack on the surface of the metal after rolling.
Cold Shut or Cold Lap: A linear discontinuity with rounded edges. The defect has a characteristic
appearance and may vary in depth. In the mildest case, it may consist merely of a shallow groove
with rounded edges. A cold shut occurs on wide surfaces of the casting, in thin sections that are
difficult to fill or where two streams of metal converge in the mold due to the sequence of filling. As
per A106 acceptable after rectification provided wall thickness within limit. But it cant say by visual
inspection that defect has been removed 100% during rectification, not acceptable without suitable
method to ensure the same.

Definition of Tear: Pull apart or to pieces with some force.
As per A 106 acceptable after rectification provided wall thickness within limit. After rectification
proper method to be adopted to ensure that 100% defects have been removed. But it is not
possible to say by visual inspection that 100% defects have been removed during rectification &
such defect is generated by defect in raw material of pipe. Hence we have to reject the entire heat.
Its an obvious and major defect in seamless pipe.

Definition of pits: A concavity in a surface of material for the granular base, hollow on a surface
especially an indentation of the skin
As per A 106 acceptable up to 12.5 % of nominal wall thickness provided minimum wall thickness
within limit. It is generated in mill by heavy scaling of bloom in furnace by more soaking time and
rolled in scale.

Definition of scabs: A slight irregular protuberance which defaces the surface of a
casting, caused by the breaking away of a part of the mold. It is hot or cold damage
As per A 106 acceptable up to 12.5 % of nominal wall thickness provided minimum wall
thickness within limit.
Definition of Mechanical abrasion: Metal removed by mechanical means
As per A 106 acceptable maximum - 12.5% of nominal wall thickness but not deeper than 1.58 mm

Mechanical abrasion by mandrel or plug

Reeler marks: In general vendors are not sending pipes with reeler marks. It is
generated by play in plug or mandrel during process in the mill
Material specification A 106 is silent about acceptance

Straightness vs. Bend : As per A 106 pipe should be reasonably straight, hence bend is not
acceptable.

Thanks for your valuable time
In the case of manufacturing the above-mentioned seamless steel pipe, a round
billet, which is produced by rolling an ingot manufactured by the continuous casting
process or the ingot blooming process, is used as a primary material (billet) for
producing the pipe. Typically, the billet used as such a primary material is
manufactured in the following steps: An ingot (bloom) having a rectangular cross
section is formed by the continuous casting process or the ingot blooming process,
and, after uniformly heated over a wide area at a predetermined temperature, the
bloom is either hot-rolled into a round shape with a stabbing mill, blooming mill, or
the like, or continuously cast into a round bloom.

The high Cr steel is normally inferior to the conventional steels, regarding the hot
workability and therefore defects often generate on the inside surface of the steel
pipe after the pipe is produced. When, for instance, defects such as inside small
scabs (hereinafter referred to as "the inside surface defects") are generated on the
inside surface of the steel pipe, not only the yield in the production of the pipes is
decreased, but also the mill train including a stretching mill and a reducing mill,
along with a piercing mill, has to be stopped. Accordingly, the productive efficiency in
the total system is greatly reduced.

In order to avoid the generation of such inside surface defects in the production of
seamless steal pipes with the hot working, several means have been usually
employed, in which, for instance, either the degree of working in the course of
producing the pipes is reduced or the temperature at which the primary material is
processed is decreased to reduce the number of defects generated by heating due to
the working. However, the above-mentioned means cause the productive efficiency
in producing the pipes with the hot working to decrease, and therefore it cannot be
stated that these means are appropriate for suppressing the inside surface defects.