FOR HIGH-STRENGTH PIPE STEELS

This invention pertains to the material testing sphere and may be utilized to determine resistance to running ductile fracture (RDF) for high-strength pipe steels of K65 grade or higher grades with the impact toughness exceeding 2.5 MJ/m ² .

It is known that resistance to RDF for pipe steels is determined using the Two-Curve Method (TCM) developed in the late 1960s - early 1970s at Battelle Institute or using its modifications (G. Wilkowski, D, Rudland, H. Xu, N. Sanderson. Effect of Grade on Ductile Fracture Arrest Criteria for Gas Pipelines // Proceedings of International Pipeline Conference 2006, September 25-29, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, IPC 2006-10350). This method takes impact toughness as a parameter specifying resistance to RDF. Impact toughness is measured on transverse Charpy V-notch specimens as provided by ISO 148-1 :2006 or an equivalent standard. The impact toughness required to arrest RDF is determined by positions of two curves - a gas decompression curve and a fracture velocity curve. The point of intersection between the two curves shows the minimum impact toughness required to arrest RDF.

TCM is a semi-empirical method based on a series of full-scale experiments with K46 - K54 grade pipes. Currently, it is being used to determine the impact toughness required for RDF arrest in steels with a relatively low toughness index. For the use of this method in testing new high-strength pipe steels a number of approaches were suggested, notably, a correction factor was introduced to compensate toughness indices obtained through TCM. These approaches are being developed now and have not been extensively used yet. TCM doesn't allow determining resistance to RDF for high- strength pipe steels with impact toughness exceeding 2.5 MJ/m ² .

As a prototype of TCM, the most proximal engineering solution is a method developed by the European Pipeline Research Group (ERPG) to determine resistance to RDF for pipe steels. This method is cited in the International Standard ISO 3183:2007 "Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries - Steel Pipe for Pipeline Transportation Systems", Annex G (pp. 99-102). Resistance to RDF is evaluated by the impact energy value obtained during impact bending tests on transverse Charpy specimens made of the pipe parent material in the original (unstrained) condition. Impact energy is determined at a temperature equivalent to the gas pipeline minimum operating temperature.

The impact energy required to arrest RDF is calculated according to the formula:

where: v- impact energy obtained during tests on transverse Charpy specimens (full size), J;

Oh - calculated membrane stress, N/m ² ;

D - external pipe diameter, m;

r - pipe wall thickness, m;

C ₃ - correction factor equaling to 3.57x10 ^"5 in calculations according to the SI system.

If the actual impact energy of the pipe parent metal exceeds the value calculated according to the formula (1), the pipe exhibits sufficient resistance to RDF. In case the actual value of the impact energy is lower than the value calculated according to the formula (1), the pipe is not capable of arresting RDF. The method is valid for pipes with the diameter < 1 ,430 mm and wall thickness < 25.4 mm designed for the operating pressure of 8 MPa (inclusive) and impact energy of up to 100 J (1.25 MJ/m ² ).

It is erroneous to use the ERPG method for determining resistance to RDF for modern high-strength pipes as the major parameters of such pipes are beyond the application boundaries of this method. Modern high-strength pipes are designed to withstand operating pressures reaching 11.8 MPa (inclusive), have the wall thickness of up to 33.4 mm, whereby the impact energy of the pipe parent metal exceeds 200 J (impact toughness is over 2.5 MJ/m ² ). There is no correlation between the results of impact bending tests in the original (unstrained) condition and resistance to RDF. The invention meets the following engineering task: to determine, relying on impact bending tests with standard transverse specimens, the value of provisional plastic strain indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease specific for resistance to RDF in high-strength pipe steels with impact toughness exceeding 2.5 MJ/m .

The task is met in the following way. The way of determining resistance to RDF in pipe steels mostly with impact toughness exceeding 2.5 MJ/m ² during the process including the preparation of a pipe blank, manufacture of several transverse specimens, performance of impact bending tests and subsequent determination of resistance to RDF using the impact toughness value also includes the following operations pursuant to the invention: several blanks are extracted from the pipe and subjected to provisional plastic strain by compression that doesn't exceed 45 %. Then at least three transverse specimens are manufactured from each blank and tested for impact bending. Subsequently, the correlation between relative impact toughness and provisional plastic strain is determined, while resistance to RDF is determined using the provisional plastic strain value indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease.

Full-scale pneumatic tests of pipes (specifically of K65 grade) have tentatively confirmed that RDF is accompanied by the plastic strain zone formation in front of the crack tip. A ductile fracture propagates in the provisionally strained metal with properties differing from its initial state. The potential to arrest a fracture is determined by the extent of plastic strain preceding fracturing as well as by the size of the plastic strain zone near the crack. The combined values show specific energy intensity of the crack propagation for particular parameters of a gas pipeline and temperature. Provisional straining of blanks (e.g. by compression) prior to specimens manufacture provides for simulating the process of plastic strain in front of the crack tip. Impact bending testing of transverse specimens after provisional plastic strain enables to determine the actual level of steel impact toughness at the moment of fracturing.

The invention is shown in figures, where Fig. 1 depicts an exemplary curve of the correlation between relative impact toughness and provisional plastic strain. Fig. 2 -5 depict actual results of impact bending tests with transverse specimens, notably, the correlation between specific impact toughness and provisional plastic strain for K65 grade steels having impact toughness above 2.5 MJ/m ² . To determine steel resistance to RDF, several sets of transverse specimens are prepared for impact bending tests. They are manufactured from blanks preliminary strained by compression reaching different straining levels.

To obtain high values of uniform strain, several consecutive processes of blank straining are acceptable. Blank strain is carried out at temperatures ranging from + 0°C to +35°C. The relative strain rate should be from 0.0005 s ^"1 to 0.003 s ^"1 .

The blanks may be provisionally strained by tension, though in this case it is not possible to obtain high degrees of strain as tension of high-strength pipe steels results in uniform strain that doesn't exceed 10 %.

Variation in blank thickness after the straining process should not be more than 0.5 % of the initial blank thickness or 0.2 mm, whichever is less.

The maximum value of provisional plastic strain by compression in blanks is 45 % as experimental research of pipes after full-scale pneumatic tests demonstrated that maximum wall thinning in the area of plastic strain doesn't exceed this value. Besides, it is too difficult in terms of equipment to obtain greater values of strain.

Charpy specimens which are transverse to the pipe axis are made of the blanks. The specimens orientation is specified by the trajectory of RDF propagation in a gas trunkline. Impact bending tests with specimens are carried out in compliance with GOST 9454-78 or an equivalent standard. The impact bending testing temperature is indicated in the technical regulations for mill or pipe products. If no such prescriptions are made, the tests are carried out at a temperature equivalent to the minimum pipe operating temperature.

Steel resistance to RDF is determined by the curve of the relative impact toughness value rate as a function of the provisional plastic strain value. The curve is plotted in coordinates of the plastic strain value (horizontal axis) and the relative impact toughness value (vertical axis) (Fig. 1). The relative value of impact toughness is calculated as a relationship between impact toughness after provisional plastic strain and impact toughness in the unstrained condition.

With the help of the curve the provisional plastic strain is determined, which manifests the start of intense impact toughness decrease. The value of the provisional plastic strain which indicates the start of intense impact toughness decrease is calculated according to the formula: dn/d£=A, (2) where:

n - relative impact toughness value, %;

ε - provisional plastic strain value, %.

The A value has been determined experimentally based on the analysis of K65 or higher grade pipe steels tests and varies between -4 and -2.

The value of provisional plastic strain indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease is the minimum value of provisional plastic strain providing the condition (2) accomplishment.

Resistance to RDF is estimated by the value of provisional plastic strain indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease. Pipe steels retaining impact toughness under higher values of strain show higher resistance to RDF. Full-scale pipe pneumatic tests have demonstrated that steels with impact toughness exceeding 2.5 MJ/m ² and the value of provisional plastic strain H≥20 % (Fig. 2, 4) show enough resistance to RDF.

The proposed method is implemented in the following way. The blanks of high-strength pipe steels are selected and subjected to provisional plastic strain of different intensity, e.g. compression at temperatures in the range of +10 to +35°C. After that, several sets of transverse specimens are manufactured to undergo impact bending tests in compliance with GOST 9454-78 or an equivalent standard. Impact toughness is determined, the relationship between relative value of impact toughness and the value of the provisional plastic strain is plotted and used to determine the value of the preliminary plastic strain indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease. Example:

The method has been used to determine resistance to RDF for K65 pipes subjected to full-scale pneumatic tests. The pipes of steels designated as No. 1 and No. 3 showed RDF propagated to more than three tested pipes. Oppositely, pipes No. 2 and No. 4 showed local ductile fracture of the length not exceeding three tested pipes.

To determine resistance to RDF, 9 sets of transverse specimens for impact bending tests (3 specimens per set) of the 10x10 mm section were made of four K65 pipes (parent metal). Blanks for the first set of each pipe specimens were not strained, the other sets of samples were provisionally strained by compression at temperatures from +10 to +35°C with the strain spacing of 5 %. All specimens were tested under GOST 9454-78 at -20°C according to the requirements of product technical regulations. Correlations between the relative impact toughness value and the provisional plastic strain value of four steels under consideration are shown in Fig. 2 - 5 . Fig. 2 shows the correlation of the impact toughness value and the provisional plastic strain value for steel No. 1 , Fig. 3 - for steel No. 2, Fig. 4 - for steel No. 3 and Fig. 5 - for steel No. 4.

Resistance to RDF was evaluated using the provisional plastic strain value indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease. This value was determined as the minimum provisional plastic strain providing the condition (2) fulfillment. The condition (2) was checked graphically.

The provisional plastic strain values indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease as well as the impact toughness level in the "original" state of four steels under consideration are shown in the Table below.

Table - Provisional plastic strain values indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease for steels under consideration

Designation Steel Steel Steel Steel

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 ε _Η , % below 5 20 below 5 20

Original impact toughness, MJ/m 3.35 3.65 3.45 3.65 As shown in the Table, steels under consideration display various resistances to RDF at almost equal values of the "original" impact toughness. Impact toughness in steels No. 1 and 3 decreases with an insignificant level of provisional plastic strain. Provisional plastic strain indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease is less than 5 % for these steels. Oppositely, impact toughness of steels No. 2 and 4 is almost stable up to 20 % of provisional plastic strain that is the value indicating the start of intense impact toughness decrease. Thus, the parent metal of pipes No. 2 and 4 features higher resistance to RDF versus the parent metal of pipes No. 1 and 3 that was proved by the full-scale pneumatic tests with these pipes.

The proposed method allows for accurately determining resistance to RDF for high- strength pipe steels of K65 or higher grades with impact toughness over 2.5 MJ/m ² as well as comparing the quality of several similar materials from various manufacturers.