X80 UOE Pipe With Excellent HAZ Toughness

New X80 UOE pipe manufacturing technology has been developed to attain excellent CTOD properties in HAZ. In the new steel pipe, the HAZ microstructure near the weld fusion line is refined by utilizing the strong suppression of austenite grain growth as well as the formation of intragranular ferrite (IGF). The IGF grows radially from oxides in the same way as in Ti-O steel. The suppression of austenite grain growth is due to the pinning effect by fine particles including ultra fine oxides. As these oxides dispersed in the steels are chemically stable even near the fusion line, the microstructure can be refined. In addition, it is also necessary to suppress the formation of coarse grain boundary ferrite (GBF) near the weld fusion line in order to obtain excellent CTOD properties. So, it was found that the increase of boron addition in weld metal is effective to suppress the formation of coarse GBF near the weld fusion line because boron atoms diffuse into prior austenite grain boundaries near the fusion line from the molten pool during welding. This paper describes new technology for improving CTOD properties in HAZ. The X80 UOE pipe manufactured on a large scale and exhibited excellent CTOD properties at −30°.Copyright © 2008 by ASME