Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21C—MANUFACTURE OF METAL SHEETS, WIRE, RODS, TUBES, PROFILES OR LIKE SEMI-MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS OTHERWISE THAN BY ROLLING; AUXILIARY OPERATIONS USED IN CONNECTION WITH METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL
  • B21C37/00—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape
  • B21C37/06—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape of tubes or metal hoses; Combined procedures for making tubes, e.g. for making multi-wall tubes
  • B21C37/12—Making tubes or metal hoses with helically arranged seams
  • B21C37/124—Making tubes or metal hoses with helically arranged seams the tubes having a special shape, e.g. with corrugated wall, flexible tubes
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21C—MANUFACTURE OF METAL SHEETS, WIRE, RODS, TUBES, PROFILES OR LIKE SEMI-MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS OTHERWISE THAN BY ROLLING; AUXILIARY OPERATIONS USED IN CONNECTION WITH METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL
  • B21C37/00—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape
  • B21C37/04—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape of rods or wire
  • B21C37/042—Manufacture of coated wire or rods
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21C—MANUFACTURE OF METAL SHEETS, WIRE, RODS, TUBES, PROFILES OR LIKE SEMI-MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS OTHERWISE THAN BY ROLLING; AUXILIARY OPERATIONS USED IN CONNECTION WITH METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL
  • B21C37/00—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape
  • B21C37/06—Manufacture of metal sheets, rods, wire, tubes, profiles or like semi-manufactured products, not otherwise provided for; Manufacture of tubes of special shape of tubes or metal hoses; Combined procedures for making tubes, e.g. for making multi-wall tubes
  • B21C37/12—Making tubes or metal hoses with helically arranged seams
  • B21C37/126—Supply, or operations combined with supply, of strip material

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of flexible tabular pipes for the transport of hydrocarbons, in particular unbound pipes ("unbonded flexible pipes").
• unbound pipes are defined in API recommendations 17J and 17B of the American Petroleum Institute and comprise metallic layers and separate polymer layers, that is to say not linked together so as to allow a certain relative displacement between the layers .
• an unbound pipe of the type contemplated in the invention generally comprises, from the inside to the outside:
• an internal sealing sheath made of generally polymeric plastic, resistant to the chemical action of the fluid to be transported;
• the shaped wires have a Z or T section or their derivatives (teta or zeta), U, or I;
• Such a pipe can be with smooth internal passage when the passage is directly formed by the sealing sheath (it is then called “smooth bore”) or with non-smooth passage ("rough bore") when provision is also made for the 'Inside the internal sealing sheath a carcass consisting of a stapled strip wound in a short pitch which serves to prevent the crushing of the pipe under external pressure.
• a carcass it is possible for certain applications to do without the pressure vault.
• the pipe may optionally comprise, in addition to these layers, other particular layers, a metallic hoop (wound at short pitch) and forming part of the pressure vault, intermediate polymer sheaths, etc.
• the pipe generally comprises both a carcass, a sealing sheath, a pressure vault, sheets of tensile armor, and a sheath external sealing.
• the armor wires considered are the tensile armor wires of the crossed armor plies or possibly the shaped wires or hoop wires of the pressure vault, which will be called wires. pressure armor.
• the expression “armouring wire” will also be understood to mean a form wire obtained according to the method of the invention and which would be intended to be used for the manufacture of a carcass.
• document FR 2 569 461 discloses a flexible rubber hose intended for the transport of corrosive effluents and incorporating for this purpose reinforcements constituted by layers of embedded metallic cables, the cables being made up of steel wires coated with clad aluminum (that is to say in intimate connection with steel, obtained under high application pressure, for example by co-extrusion).
• This pipe manufactured according to the technology of linked pipes, is therefore of a different constitution from that of non-linked pipes mainly envisaged according to the invention and which are subjected to tensile stresses which are unthinkable with this technology of linked pipes.
• the object of the invention is to allow the reinforcement of flexible conduits, in particular unbonded conduits, by armor wires resistant to corrosion but also endowed with good mechanical qualities to allow the use of conduits at great depth. More specifically, the object of the invention is to find a process for the intimate coating or plating of the steel of the armor wires, compatible with the requirements of use for a pipe of the aforementioned type used in an acid medium and in large quantities. depth.
• the invention achieves its object by a process for the manufacture of plated steel armor wires intended for the reinforcement of flexible tabular conduits, in particular unbound, for the transport of hydrocarbons, a process of the type according to which a plating coating is associated. intimately, by high pressure, to a steel core, characterized in that the steel of the core is chosen with average mechanical characteristics and is hardenable, in that the coating is applied to the core and intimately associated, then in that the plated wire obtained undergoes rapid quenching at high temperature followed by tempering, so as to increase the mechanical characteristics of the plated wire.
• the characteristics of the steel and the plating coating, as well as the temperature and the time of quenching are chosen in a linked manner so as to raise the mechanical characteristics of the hardened wire without destroying the solidity of the plating bond.
• One of the key factors of the invention is the speed of the heat treatment at high temperature which, in conjunction with the other parameters, makes it possible to minimize the stresses at the level of the connection between the steel and the coating, in particular by avoiding the migration of the carbon and iron . steel in the connection and coating.
• a steel of medium strength is used for the core of the armor wire, that is to say of which the resistance Rm is between
• 500 and 1000 MPa advantageously between 800 and 900 MPa. It must be a "quenchable" steel (capable of undergoing a quenching improving its mechanical characteristics, the hardening consisting, as is known, of hardening by heat treatment (austenization + cooling) with carbon, alloyed or weakly alloyed.
• the anti-corrosion coating is for example made of titanium or titanium alloys, stainless steel, nickel or nickel alloys.
• the plating is carried out mechanically when cold after adequate preparation (mechanical or chemical deoxidation of the surfaces), using a technique allowing intimate bonding by pressure (for example co-extrusion or co-laminating). - Following this operation, an assembly is obtained which is characterized by a still fragile base / plating connection and by mechanical characteristics degraded by plastic deformation (low elongation). Such a product, at this stage, would not be compatible with shaping to serve as armor for a pipe of the type considered in the invention.
• the steel thus coated is subjected to a heat treatment comprising a short quenching at high temperature and tempering carried out so as to minimize the stresses at the level of the connection between the steel and the coating.
• the heat treatment in accordance with the invention makes it possible to improve the characteristics of the bond, to restore the ductility characteristics of the plating and to obtain the high mechanical characteristics of the base metal necessary in the applications envisaged for this type of product.
• This heat treatment is characterized by a short high temperature thermal cycle (900 ° C to 1100 ° C) (a few seconds to a few tens of seconds) followed by rapid cooling and a tempering treatment at a temperature of from 400 ° C to 700 ° C and which is adjusted according to the desired mechanical characteristics, the tempering taking place over a period of a few minutes, advantageously between 10 and 20 minutes.
• This heat treatment has the following effects, different depending on the constituents of the armor:
• the treatment restores ductility without leading to precipitations which are detrimental to the resistance to conosion.
• the bond allows an improvement of the resistance by relaxation of the constraints of rolling or extrusion and diffusion metallic.
• the tempering also allows a complementary improvement of the ductility by the relaxation of the differential stresses linked to quenching.
• the heat treatment will make it possible to obtain a tempered tempered structure combining very high mechanical characteristics (Rm greater than 1000 MPa and preferably at least 1400 MPa) and sufficient ductility for the targeted applications (approximately 5 % elongation).
• the invention also relates to a flexible tubular pipe for transporting hydrocarbons, incorporating at least certain armor wires produced according to the aforementioned manufacturing process. More specifically, the invention relates to a flexible tubular pipe for the transport of hydrocarbons, of the type comprising polymeric layers and unbound metallic layers, the metallic layers comprising wound armor wires, characterized in that at least some armor wires are produced according to the method of the preceding claims.
• the invention relates in particular to a pipe of the type comprising at least one carcass, an internal sheath, a pressure vault comprising pressure armor wires, sheets made up of tensile armor wires and an external sheath, characterized in that that at least some of the armor wires are produced according to the process of the invention.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pipe of the "rough bore” type, to which the invention applies,
• Figure 2 is a schematic view illustrating the manufacturing process of the plated armor according to the invention.
• Figure 3 schematically illustrates various possible sections of plated armor.
• Figure 1 shows a pipe type "rough bore" which includes from the inside to the outside: a metal carcass 1, generally made by a stapled strip wound in short pitch and intended for resistance to crushing under external pressure ; a polymeric internal sealing sheath 2, a metal pressure vault, constituted here in the traditional way by helical winding with short pitch (winding angle generally close to 90 ° relative to the axis of the pipe) of a stapled metal wire 3 doubled by the helical winding at short pitch of a hoop wire 4, an armor 5 resistant to axial traction in the longitudinal direction of the pipe and conventionally constituted by a pair of crossed plies of tensile armor wires 6,7 of winding with a long pitch (typically less than 55 ° relative to the axis of the pipe), and of a polymeric external sealing sheath 8.
• the invention relates to the plating of the tensile armor wires 6,7 as well as the pressure armor wires 3, 4 (if applicable), according to a treatment which is illustrated in FIG. 2.
• the starting wire 20 consists of a core 21 of base metal with medium mechanical characteristics (for example Rm of 800 to 900 MPa) and of a coating 22 of plating metal.
• the base metal can be, for example, a base steel of the chromium silicon type (55SiCr V) in the globulated state so as to allow plating.
• the plating metal may for example be a nickel base (NiCrMo 6x series according to AISI) or a nickel alloy (8x series).
• the starting wire 20 passes through a co-extrusion die 23, from which it emerges by having the coating 22 intimately linked to the core 21.
• the wire thus plated passes through a station 24 for heat treatment at high temperature, typically at least 800 ° C and preferably at 1100 ° C, for example by heating the wire by induction.
• This treatment is rapid (from a few seconds to a few minutes at most).
• austenitization of the base steel There is an austenitization of the base steel.
• This treatment is followed by rapid quenching in a quenching station (for example by air, water or oil) which is accompanied by a controlled martensitic transformation and therefore allows high mechanical characteristics to be obtained, with an Rm of in the order of 2.00 MPa.
• the speed of the treatment makes it possible not to allow harmful elements (iron, carbon) to diffuse in the bond which would degrade the quality of the latter and degrade the corrosion resistance of the plating.
• Induction heating is advantageous not only for its speed but also because it overcomes the problems associated with the possible reflection of the coating.
• the wire thus obtained then crosses a station 26 for thermal tempering, at a temperature of the order of 450 ° C for about fifteen minutes.
• the thickness of the cladding is generally of the order of 200 ⁇ m to 500 ⁇ m; it must be thick enough to resist mechanical attack and corrosion. It represents in section less than approximately 10% of the total section of the wire.
• FIG. 3 illustrates, by way of example, four types of possible sections for the plated armor wires.
• the round shape 30 is the simplest, but it is also possible to envisage a rectangular shape 31 or a "zeta" 32 or “teta” shape 33, these shapes being in themselves conventional for constituting pipe reinforcement wires.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Rigid Pipes And Flexible Pipes (AREA)
• Ropes Or Cables (AREA)
• Electroplating Methods And Accessories (AREA)
• Wire Processing (AREA)
• Reinforced Plastic Materials (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
• Coating With Molten Metal (AREA)
• Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

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• 2002
  • 2002-03-05 FR FR0202793A patent/FR2836847B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-02-28 DK DK03722682T patent/DK1483068T3/da active
  • 2003-02-28 AT AT03722682T patent/ATE299760T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-02-28 WO PCT/FR2003/000657 patent/WO2003074206A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2003-02-28 US US10/506,267 patent/US7615124B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-28 DE DE60301062T patent/DE60301062D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-28 AU AU2003229847A patent/AU2003229847A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-02-28 EP EP03722682A patent/EP1483068B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-02-28 BR BRPI0307966-0B1A patent/BR0307966B1/pt active IP Right Grant
• 2004
  • 2004-08-19 NO NO20043450A patent/NO20043450L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

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