JP2009097059A - High-efficiency heat treatment method for electric resistance welded steel pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-efficiency heat treatment method for an electric resistance welded steel pipe by which improvement in toughness of a weld zone of the electric resistance welded steel pipe can stably be achieved with few stands at high efficiency while reducing a running cost. <P>SOLUTION: Larger amount of electric power is supplied to a first stand of a seam annealer 11 than those supplied to any other stand and at the first stand (or further, at a second stand), the outer surface side of the pipe welded part at the outlet side of the first stand (or the second stand), is rapidly heated so as to exceed the Ac<SB>3</SB>transformation point. Consequently, in the rear-step stands, while keeping the temperature at the outer surface side of the pipe welded part at a prescribed temperature exceeding the Curie point, the inner surface side of the pipe welded part is heated so as to reach the target temperature. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric resistance welded steel pipe, and in particular, for the purpose of improving the workability and toughness of the welded portion, the high efficiency and high efficiency of the electric resistance welded pipe welded portion for heat treatment of the welded welded portion with high efficiency The present invention relates to a heat treatment method.

  Usually, as shown in FIG. 1, the electric resistance welded steel pipe 5 is formed by forming a coiled steel strip 1 into a tubular shape by a roll forming machine 2 via an uncoiler 6 and a leveler 7, and then abutting the plate end faces to form a high frequency. It is manufactured as a steel pipe that is electro-welded with a welding machine 3, is cut with a bead part cutting machine 8, is adjusted to a predetermined diameter with a sizer 9, and is cut into a predetermined length with a pipe cutting machine 10. . In this electric welding, a high-frequency current is passed to the butt portion by a high-frequency welding machine (induction heating device) 3, Joule heat is concentrated to melt the butt portion, and the squeeze roll 4 is crimped to form a welded portion. A sewn steel pipe 5 is used. Since the formed weld is rapidly heated and cooled rapidly, it has a composition, structure and strength different from those of the base material (steel strip), and other parts (base material) have workability, toughness, and corrosion resistance. It is in a lowered state compared to. In order to make the workability, toughness, and corrosion resistance of welds equal to or better than other parts of the pipe (base metal), heat treatment is generally performed on the welded parts of the ERW steel pipe, referred to as seam annealing. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the heat treatment applied to the ERW steel pipe welded portion is generally performed by a seam annealer 11 installed on the exit side of the squeeze roll 4 in the ERW steel pipe production line. In this seam annealer 11, an induction heating apparatus is generally used in which a plurality of high-frequency induction heating means provided with induction coils in the longitudinal direction of the outer surface of the tube are arranged and heated by generating an induction current in and around the welded portion. Yes.

  In order to sufficiently heat the inside of the tube to such a problem, if the input power of the high-frequency induction heating means is increased and the induction current is increased, the temperature of the outer surface of the tube becomes too high and the crystal grains become coarse. On the contrary, the toughness may decrease. Also, in the method of making the pipe making speed extremely low, ensuring sufficient heat transfer time after heating by the seam annealer and reducing the temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces of the pipe, a long facility with a large number of induction heating means arranged in series As a result, the equipment cost increases, the amount of input power increases, and the running cost increases. Further, when the pipe making speed is extremely low, defects are likely to increase in the ERW welded part, and there is a problem that the characteristics of the welded part are deteriorated. In addition, when the production line is stopped due to troubles during pipe making, the equipment is long, so there is a problem that non-uniformity of the ERW welds increases and the yield decreases.

For such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses that the outer surface temperature of a welded portion is (Ac ₃ points + 100 ° C.) to (Ac ₃ points + 300 ° C.) with a high-frequency induction heating device in a thick-walled ERW steel pipe welded portion. When the first normalization is performed and the outer surface temperature of the welded portion subsequently decreases to ₁ point or less of Ac, the temperature range is from ₁ point to ₃ points (Ac ₃ points + 100 ° C). A method for manufacturing a thick-walled electric-welded steel pipe is described in which a heat treatment consisting of second normalizing and annealing is performed. According to this technique, a thick ERW steel pipe having extremely excellent weld toughness can be manufactured without adding a complicated and long processing time.

Patent Document 2 discloses the first heating, in which the temperature of the inner surface of the welded portion is increased to (Ac ₃ points + 50 ° C.) or higher with a high-frequency induction heating device on the thick-walled electric-welded steel pipe welded portion, After the first heating, the outer surface temperature is cooled to below the bainite transformation end temperature of the material to be heated by water cooling or air cooling, and then the Ac ₃ transformation region is a temperature that can cover the region where the bainite structure is generated by the first heating / cooling. And the heat processing method of a thick-walled electric-welded steel pipe which performs the heat processing which consists of the 2nd heating heated to the temperature below which a bainite structure generate | occur | produces is described. According to this technique, a thick ERW steel pipe having excellent weld toughness can be manufactured without adding a complicated and long processing time.
JP 59-129729 A Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 06-220547

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, cooling is performed to a predetermined temperature or lower after the first heating. However, this temperature is high and untransformed austenite remains, and the temperature is low during cooling after the second heating. There is a problem that the desired toughness improvement cannot be obtained due to transformation into a transformation product.
Further, in the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since the cooling is performed after the first heating, it is necessary to lengthen the heat treatment equipment, resulting in an increase in equipment costs, inefficient production, and production costs. There is a problem of increasing the (running cost). In addition, since the cooling rate slightly changes depending on the water temperature and air temperature, it is difficult to accurately achieve the desired temperature at the time of cooling after the first heating, and it is possible to stably improve sufficient toughness. There was a problem that it was difficult to obtain.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and can improve the toughness of the ERW steel pipe welded portion stably and with high efficiency while reducing the running cost with a small number of stands. An object is to provide a heat treatment method.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present inventors diligently studied a heating pattern capable of efficiently performing a heat treatment capable of improving the toughness of the welded portion of the ERW steel pipe, and first focused on the heating pattern until reaching the Ac ₃ transformation point. did.
In the conventional heating pattern, the temperature on the outer surface side and the inner surface side of the seam annealer outlet-side electric-welded steel pipe welded portion (abbreviated as a pipe welded portion) has only to be the target temperature, and a heating pattern left to the experience is set. The present inventors changed the heating pattern in various ways and investigated the material characteristics of the pipe welded part and its vicinity in detail, and due to the devising of the heating pattern, sufficient heating is possible even if the equipment length of the seam annealer is short. Thus, it has been understood that it is possible to prevent insufficient heating of the inner surface without making the outer surface overheated.

That is, in the conventional heating pattern, when the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion is heated to the target temperature range of Ac ₃ transformation point + α, the outer surface of the pipe welded portion on the outlet side of each stand of the seam annealer is not concerned with the heating pattern. The temperature on the side may be high or low for each stand. Therefore, even when the outer surface side of the pipe weld reaches the target temperature, the temperature on the inner surface side does not become a specific temperature and cannot be controlled. Therefore, after reaching the temperature above the Ac ₃ transformation point only on the outer surface side, it is gradually cooled in the middle of the seam heat treatment, the temperature is made uniform by using heat conduction, and then heated again to heat the inner surface side. A method of finely adjusting the temperature toward the target has been proposed.

The present invention focused attention on the temperature of the outer surface of the pipe welds to a temperature above the Ac ₃ transformation point in the middle of the heating. In other words, if the outer surface temperature reaches the temperature exceeding the Ac ₃ transformation point as quickly as possible, the number of stands required for heating can be reduced, and heat loss due to repeated heating and cooling by multiple stands can be prevented. Efficient heating is possible.
Therefore, it is preferable to maximize the input power (heating capacity) of the first stand among all the stands. Further, it is preferable that the temperature on the outer surface side reaches the Ac ₃ transformation point by the first stand as much as possible. Further, when the temperature on the outer surface cannot reach the Ac ₃ transformation point only by the first stand, the second stand is also used to take a heating pattern for rapid heating. By this, the outer surface side can reach the target temperature at an early stage, the equipment length is short, the input power is small, the running cost is low, and an efficient ERW pipe manufacturing is possible.

Subsequently, the present inventors paid attention to the temperature on the inner surface side of the pipe welded portion. If the temperature on the outer surface side is rapidly increased, it is said that it is difficult for the temperature on the inner surface side to follow. Conventionally, this heating pattern has been hesitantly taken.
Accordingly, the present inventors have studied how to reach quickly the target temperature the temperature of the inner surface side after the temperature of the outer surface is greater than the Ac ₃ transformation point. In this study, magnetic flux distribution and temperature distribution were observed by electromagnetic field analysis, heat transfer analysis, and temperature measurement for the cross section of the pipe welded part with the outer surface heated to a temperature exceeding the Ac ₃ transformation point, and this was used for induction heating. It was found that the magnetic flux bypasses the region of temperature above the Curie point. That is, in order to heat the tube from the outer surface side, the magnetic flux is not concentrated on the outer surface side of the tube welded portion which is higher than the Curie point, but the magnetic flux is concentrated on the inner surface side and eddy current is generated to Heated. As a result, the thickness center and the inner surface side of the welded portion of the pipe are efficiently heated, and the heating on the outer surface side is suppressed, so that the temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces of the pipe is reduced and uniform heating becomes possible. . In order to obtain this effect, induction heating may be performed so that the temperature on the outer surface side is maintained at a certain appropriate temperature exceeding the Curie point.

The present invention has been made based on the above findings and has been further studied, and is as follows.
1. A plurality of high-frequency induction heating means having induction coils arranged in the longitudinal direction of the outer surface of the pipe are supplied to a plurality of high-frequency induction heating devices arranged in series, and an ERW steel pipe is fed and the welded portion of the pipe is induction-heated from the outer surface side of the pipe In the heat treatment method for the ERW steel pipe welded portion, the input power of the first stand of the high-frequency heating means is maximized among all the stands, and the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion on the outlet side of the first stand is the first stand. Ac ₃ or heated to exceed the transformation point, or so that the temperature of the outer surface of the pipe welding portions of the first stand and the second stand delivery side in the next second stand is more than Ac ₃ transformation point After heating and the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion exceeds the Ac ₃ transformation point, the temperature on the outer surface side of the tube welded portion is maintained at a predetermined temperature exceeding the Curie point at each subsequent stage. The inner side of the welded part High efficiency heat treatment method of the electric resistance welded steel pipe welds, characterized in that heating to reach the temperature.

2. High efficiency heat treatment method of the electric resistance welded steel pipe welds according to item 1, characterized in that the said target temperature and Ac ₃ transformation point or more of the temperature.

  According to the present invention, improvement in toughness of an ERW steel pipe welded portion can be achieved inexpensively, efficiently and stably, and there is a remarkable industrial effect. Moreover, according to this invention, the installation length of an induction heating apparatus (Seam Annealer) can be shortened, heat processing can be performed efficiently, input electric power can be reduced, and manufacturing cost (running cost) can also be reduced.

  In the present invention, the target ERW steel pipe is fed to a high frequency induction heating apparatus in which a plurality of high frequency induction heating means are arranged in series, and heat treatment is performed on the welded portion of the ERW steel pipe. As shown in FIG. 2A, the high-frequency induction heating device 11 used here is preferably disposed on the exit side of the squeeze roll 4 from the viewpoint of improving productivity. The high frequency induction heating apparatus 11 used in the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of high frequency induction heating means (stands) 11a are arranged in series as shown in FIG. In addition, the high frequency induction heating means 11a has an induction coil in the longitudinal direction of the outer surface of the ERW steel pipe that is the object to be heated, generates an induction current from the outer surface of the pipe to the welded portion and its periphery, and the welded portion is localized. It is set as the structure which can be heated. In addition, it is preferable to arrange | position the thermometer 12 which can measure the temperature of the outer surface side of an ERW steel pipe welding part (abbreviated pipe welding part) on the exit side of each stand 11a. Each stand 11a preferably includes a frequency variable device (not shown) so that it can adapt to a desired frequency as needed.

In the present invention, the power input to the first stand of the high-frequency heating means 11a is maximized among all the stands. Then, the temperature of the outer surface of the pipe welding portion of the first stand delivery side by the first stand is heated to exceed the Ac ₃ transformation point. Alternatively, the first stand and the next second stand are heated so that the temperature on the outer surface side of the tube welded portion on the second stand exit side exceeds the Ac ₃ transformation point. The frequency and input power amount of the stand that performs such rapid heating (the first stand or the second stand) are not particularly limited except that the input power of the first stand is the maximum among all the stands, and the outer surface side is Adjustment may be made so that the target temperature can be reached efficiently. Here, the Ac ₃ transformation point was predicted from the steel composition by a prediction formula (for example, edited by the Japan Institute of Metals: 3rd edition metal data book, p.152, published on Mar. 25, 1993). Use the value or the value measured experimentally. Strictly speaking, the composition of the pipe weld should be used for this prediction or measurement, but the base material composition may be used as long as the difference between the pipe base material composition and the weld composition is negligible.

Note that the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion on the exit side of the stand 11a may be measured by a thermometer 12 arranged on the stand exit side. By adjusting the frequency and input power of the stand so that the difference between the measured temperature of the thermometer 12 and the target temperature is eliminated, rapid heating with high accuracy is possible.
Then, stand in the outlet side the tube stand temperature of the outer surface side exceeds the Ac ₃ transformation point of the weld (the first stand or the second stand) than subsequent stand, the temperature of the outer surface of the pipe weld Curie Heating is performed so that the inner surface side of the pipe weld reaches the target temperature while being maintained at a predetermined temperature exceeding the point.

  In order to perform such heating, an electromagnetic field analysis and a heat transfer analysis (for example, a process of induction heating a tube welded portion in which the outer surface side is heated to the Curie point or more from the outer surface side with different frequency and input power) (for example, Literature: Iron and steel, vol93, No.5 (2007), see P373-378) Calculate the temperature distribution and magnetic flux density distribution in the cross section of the pipe weld. From the calculation results, the input power is as low as possible. Then, the temperature on the outer surface side where the magnetic flux density is most effectively concentrated on the inner surface side is obtained, and this is set as the predetermined temperature, and the combination of the frequency and input power corresponding to the state is set in the rear stage stand. That's fine.

The target temperature of the inner surface side of the pipe welds, be the outer surface side Like Ac ₃ transformation point or above the temperature, preferably made further improve the weld toughness.

A 0.05% C-0.2% Si-1.4% Mn hot-rolled steel strip (Ac ₃ transformation point: 860 ° C.) in mass%, as shown in FIG. 1, uncoiler 6, leveler 7, roll forming machine 2, A pipe making machine having a high-frequency welding machine 3, a squeeze roll 4, a sizer 9 and the like was used as an electric-welded steel pipe (outer diameter 600φ mm × thickness 25.4 mm). Next, heat treatment was performed on the welded portion of the pipe using a seam annealer (high frequency induction heating device) 11 as shown in FIG. The used seam annealer 11 was provided with seven high-frequency induction heating means 11a, and a thermometer 12 for temperature measurement on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion was arranged on the outlet side of each stand. Using these thermometers 12, the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion on the outlet side of each stand was measured.
(Conventional example)
First, the power input to each stand is set so that the target temperature reaches the target 880 ° C, so that the efficiency of each stand is almost the same as before (with operation experience). As a result of adjusting and heat-treating, the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion reached the target temperature with 5 stands. Thereafter, once the fifth stand delivery side, to cool the temperature of the outer surface to below Ac ₃ transformation point, again, as a result of the heating from the sixth stand, further temperature of the inner surface side of the pipe weld at heating 2 stand Reached 880 ° C above the target Ac ₃ transformation point. That is, by using a total of seven high-frequency induction heating means, the outer surface side and the inner surface side of the pipe welded part could reach the target temperature.
(Example of the present invention)
The power input to the first stand of the seam annealer 11 is the maximum of all the stands. In addition to this first stand, the second stand is used to rapidly heat the pipe weld and its surroundings, and the second stand outlet pipe weld The outer surface temperature of the part was allowed to reach a target temperature (880 ° C.) exceeding the Ac ₃ transformation point (860 ° C.). Subsequently, without intermediate cooling, the temperature of the outer surface side of the pipe welded part is obtained from the heat transfer analysis and electromagnetic field analysis by the stand after the third stand, and the magnetic flux is generated on the inner surface side with the smallest possible input power. The material to be treated was subjected to heat treatment by adjusting the operating frequency and input power of the high-frequency induction heating means 11a so that the temperature on the outer surface side of the welded portion of the pipe that is most concentrated (curie point or higher). As a result, the temperature on the inner surface side of the pipe welded portion reached the target temperature (880 ° C.) exceeding the Ac ₃ transformation point only by adding three stands. That is, by using a total of five high-frequency induction heating means, the outer surface side and the inner surface side of the pipe welded part could reach the target temperature.

Charpy impact was performed on the pipe welds after the heat treatment in each of the above examples to evaluate toughness. The test method was as follows.
(Charpy impact test)
An impact test piece (V-notch test piece) was collected from the welded portion of the obtained ERW steel pipe in accordance with the provisions of JIS Z 2242. The test specimens were collected at 10 different locations in the longitudinal direction of the pipe. The test specimen length direction was parallel to the pipe circumferential direction, the test specimen notch position was the weld center, and 1 each from the outer surface side and the inner surface side of the pipe welded portion. Samples were collected one by one. Using these test pieces, a Charpy impact test was performed at a test temperature of −46 ° C. in accordance with the provisions of JIS Z 2242 to determine the absorbed energy and the brittle fracture surface ratio.

  Table 1 shows the absorbed energy and the brittle fracture surface ratio (both average values for both) on the inner surface side. On the outer surface side, the value was the same as or slightly better than the inner surface side.

In the present invention example, it is possible to reach the target temperature exceeding the Ac ₃ transformation point (860 ° C.) on the inner and outer surfaces of the pipe welded portion by using high frequency induction heating means having a smaller number of stands than in the conventional example. It is possible to reduce the number of the induction heating means.
Moreover, in the example of this invention, it is a pipe weld part with a high absorbed energy value, a low brittle fracture surface ratio, and excellent toughness, resulting in a highly reliable product pipe. On the other hand, in the conventional example, the absorbed energy value is low, the brittle fracture surface ratio is high, and the weld zone toughness is lowered, resulting in a product pipe with low reliability.

It is explanatory drawing which shows typically an example of the ERW steel pipe manufacturing line suitable for this invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an example of (a) a position where a seam annealer is suitable for the present invention and (b) a configuration.

Explanation of symbols

1 Steel strip 2 Roll forming machine 3 High frequency welding machine 4 Squeeze roll 5 Steel pipe (ERW steel pipe)
6 Uncoiler 7 Leveler 8 Bead cutting machine 9 Sizer
10 pipe cutting machine
11 Seam Annealer (High Frequency Induction Heater)
11a High frequency induction heating means (stand)
12 Thermometer

Claims (2)

A plurality of high-frequency induction heating means having induction coils arranged in the longitudinal direction of the outer surface of the pipe are supplied to a plurality of high-frequency induction heating devices arranged in series, and an ERW steel pipe is fed and the welded portion of the pipe is induction-heated from the outer surface side of the pipe In the heat treatment method for the ERW steel pipe welded portion, the input power of the first stand of the high-frequency heating means is maximized among all the stands, and the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion on the outlet side of the first stand is the first stand. Ac ₃ or heated to exceed the transformation point, or so that the temperature of the outer surface of the pipe welding portions of the first stand and the second stand delivery side in the next second stand is more than Ac ₃ transformation point After heating and the temperature on the outer surface side of the pipe welded portion exceeds the Ac ₃ transformation point, the temperature on the outer surface side of the tube welded portion is maintained at a predetermined temperature exceeding the Curie point at each subsequent stage. The inner side of the welded part High efficiency heat treatment method of the electric resistance welded steel pipe welds, characterized in that heating to reach the temperature. High efficiency heat treatment method of the electric resistance welded steel pipe welds according to claim 1, characterized in that the target temperature and the Ac ₃ transformation point or more of the temperature.

Images