The increasing length of oil and gas transportation pipelines, associated with their construction and operating costs, has lead to the development of new steel grades with higher performance. The API5L-X100 is a new high strength steel for pipeline applications which enables the use of thinner walled pipes, making them lighter to transport and easier to handle on site, allowing greater operating pressures and reducing overall costs. Disadvantages include the fact that this steel grade in less ductile. However, advantages largely surpass disadvantages and in particular these materials are being seen as adequate for earthquake risk areas and arctic zones. X100 grade is already used in northern Canada and is planed for Japan Sub Sea. Welding on site is the most common method of joining onshore oil and gas pipes together, for the more common steel grades (X65, X70, X80), and is nowadays a frequently mechanised process. However, the use of new materials always imposes the development of new joining processes with stronger requests. Additionally the X-100 family steels have limitations regarding the weldability. Research is needed to develop appropriate welding procedures, avoiding typical problems like cold cracking and toughness reduction in the weld area, and to achieve high productivity and economical feasibility. In the present study an X100 steel grade welded by high power fiber lasers is studied. Since these lasers are quite new in the market, an analysis of the laser source, as well as the beam/material interaction is made. The welds produced were investigated in both macro- and microstructural features and mechanical properties, contributing to a better understanding of the transformations induced in this material by the thermal cycle associated with laser welding.
Welding with high power fiber laser API5L-X100 Pipeline steel
Schweißen von Pipeline-Stahl API5L-X100 mit dem Hochleistungs-Faserlaser
2009
6 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 11 Quellen
Conference paper
Storage medium
English
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